In the Mind of Yuzu
by animewatchers186
Summary: The story of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V in the point of view of Yuya's friend, Yuzu. For every episode, there is a chapter in her point of view. New chapter every episode. Rating may change, depending on how the episodes play out. RxR
1. Chapter 1-The Trail of Light

Chapter One- The Trail of Light, Pendulum Summon!

**Hey guys! New story!**

**... Please don't kill me... I will keep doing my 5ds, i promise!**

**Basically, i think Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V is looking good, so i'm writing a fanfiction.**

**So, for every episode, there will be a chapter in Yuzu's POV.**

**Please review!**

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A traditional Japanese temple could be seen in the dim light, sakura blossom floating down. It was a perfect romantic image. It looked like a set from a romantic or period movie. You could almost feel the breeze on your skin, the smell of the flowers and the touch of the cool water under the bridge.

The sight was ruined slightly by the huge metal samurai, floating in mid air.

A duellist stood on the bridge, demanding his opponents next turn.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" a voice cries, in English. Suddenly, a pink hippo flies and lands perfectly on the roof.

I had been Yuya's friend for years. I don't remember meeting him. He's just always been there. All of my best memories have Yuya in them. Heck, my earliest memory was of Yuya, at my fifth birthday party, stuffing his face with cake and being violently sick.

I remember the day his father vanished. I remember the day Yuya picked up a deck, determined to be a great duelist, like his dad, and make everyone smile. I remember how i fully believed in him and learned how to duel to, determined to be by his side.

But now, I wasn't so sure.

"Play seriously!" I yell at the computer, as Yuya's hippo monsters started dancing.

We enrolled at You Show Duel School when we were seven. However, seeing as my dad was one of the teachers there, we didn't get much of a choice. Although we have fun there and we duel tons, it is a rundown dump and the Solid Vision for Action Duels keeps malfunctioning.

As I demonstrated, slamming my hands down on the keys in frustration. Sparks started flying up and then, it was all down. _Great_, I thought. Yuya desperately tries to swim in the air but he crashes to the ground and quickly recovers, pulling a stupid face.

_Baka_, I think, disgusted at the fact I'm trying to hold down giggles.

I turn to see my father having, yet another, panic. Shouting about broken machinery, funds, schooling, and students dropping out. He was probably disturbing people in the streets. He was kind at heart but his head was almost non-existent.

I stare at Yuya, who had pulled his goggles over his eyes. Was he crying? I was just about to throw my arm around his shoulder in comfort when he then complains about me breaking the machine.

"That's because you were goofing off!" I hiss, swatting at him. He jumps and crashes into Noburo, who looks less than amused.

"There's a huge difference between someone laughing with you and laughing at you!"

We were too busy bickering to notice a dodgy-looking guy slide into the room.

"Oh, it seems something is amiss in here," he wheezed, sliding in as if he owned the place.

When we did, we all stared suspiciously. He introduced himself as Nico Smiley, the 'manager-slash-promoter' of Strong Ishijima.

_God, what a name_, I think, as I glance over at my childhood friend. The name Strong Ishijima held bad memories for him, even now. However, this bimbo probably had no information of the story and he was babbling on about duels at a Fan Appreciation Day.

"Your wish from three years ago will come true!" he held up three fingers on both of his hands. Ok, so he did know about Yuya's father. Meaning this guy had a lot of nerve. Yuya wasn't on our wavelength. He was still remembering that day.

"The preparations are already complete!" Smiley slammed a poster onto the coffee table.

Then, my hot-headed father turned Mr. Smiley down. It was crazy. I had never seen my father refuse a duel from another school. That turned Nico Smiley's smile upside down.

"I won't let Yuya be your show pony!"

Then, Nico started smiling again. But this time, it was a smug one. I really wanted to wipe it off his disgusting face. He was already two steps ahead and he then explains that the newest Real Solid Vision System would be given to us for our co-operation. For free.

And my father caved like a pack of cards.

"What's important is what Yuya feels about it,"

We all turned to him, but he was gone.

* * *

Next thing I know, we're running to the Leo Duel School.

"Yuya…" I whimper.

Then, I forget about my worry for a second to slap my father over the head with my fan, as he starts dreaming out loud about the new system we would receive.

And then, the duel began.

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**Please review!**

**p.s sorry if parts are a bit vague! I have to do quite a lot from memory!**


	2. Chapter 2-The Strongest Form of Dueling!

Chapter 2- The Strongest Form of Duelling! It's Called Action Duel!

He… won?

_Pendulum?_

Yuya?

_Pendulum Summon!?_

Our Yuya…

_What is a Pendulum Summon!?_

Won?

The crowd was silent.

"Did he win?" I ask stupidly. I already know the answer but I just had to double check that I hadn't imagined the whole thing.

"Yeah,"

I waved as his mother shouted over the stand that he had won. Defeated him for his father.

"It was awesome, Yuya!" I backed up her words.

* * *

The next day, i almost fell over at the long queue outside the school. It weaved down the pavement and out the street. I quickly got behind the reception desk and began helping people who had been queuing for hours. Every single one of them wanting an entry form. Was i even awake? I pinched myself several times but it wasn't a dream.

"All these people want to join our duel school?" Ayu asked.

"For this who wish to apply to our duel school, please fill out these application forms with your name!" I explained, my face falling at how many entries were wanted.

I explained to the little ones that the new duelling system had been set up and my father was currently hugging it.

"You're the one from before," I crouch down to a little blue haired boy who had been the day before the match with Strong Ishijima. He smiled at me slightly.

My father stopped droning on and on my Yuya interrupting with his usual 'ladies and gentlemen' call. They all turned to see Yuya standing by himself in the arena.

"Welcome to my one-man show!" he cried, not seeing me coming up behind him until I had slapped him with my fan.

"Whatdya mean 'one man show'? You can't duel by yourself!" I snapped.

And just because of that one little smack, people started accusing me of bullying him and to forfeit the match.

"I get it… I'm playing that part…" I said in fake anger, desperately trying to hide my tears.

"Yuya! Don't go and get big headed just cuz your famous now!" I pointed at him.

He blanked. I whispered in his ear to play along.

Then, he starts harping on about me being 'Miss Strong Ishijima'. This was getting worse by the minute. I didn't care if Yuya was famous now. I just wanted to kick his ass. Granted, I did tell him to 'play the part' but this was a bit excessive.

The duel was normal. Like how we duelled before his match against Ishijima. Like last month, last year, the first time we ever played. He may be famous but he was still the _same_ and I knew how to beat him.

_If Yuya can get famous with his skill, then I can too! _A voice whispered in the back of my head. But did I really want that?

Then, he tried _that _summon. I held my breath. This was going to turn this duel around. The whole world around and I was going to witness-

_**Error.**_

* * *

He tried again but no luck came. He tried to get himself into a pinch, like when he duelled the day before but it still came up with the red letters of failure.

And the audience were not very impressed. They were already gone, accusing Yuya of cheating and changing the settings yesterday.

Please, that was giving him way too much credit. He would have to find the main computer, slip past the guards and alter the settings. Yuya can barely use an electric toothbrush, let alone a duel computer.

Yuya refused to leave. He wanted to understand how to Pendulum summon, even if it took all night, all week, all year or his whole life.

I sighed and left, not bothering to mention that, even if he was going to spend his whole life trying to Pendulum Summon, we still had maths homework due tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3- Dark Town

Chapter three- Dark Town- the Stolen Pendulum Summon!

As sensei droned on and on, all I could do was stare at him, drawing useless equations and the board, and Yuya, who was sleeping on his desk.

How was I going to wake him without getting the teachers attention? I desperately tried to kick him, but out desks were too far apart. I couldn't ask a favour from the person sitting behind him to give him a poke, because there was no one behind him.

"Sakaki Yuya! What is the answer?" the sensei demanded. I offered a silent prayer for the dunce to wake up. No such luck.

"Sakai Yuya!" the maths teacher roared, shooting over to Yuya's desk, like a bullet. That woke him up. But not properly.

I cringe as Yuya tries to Pendulum summon with invisible cards on a non-existent disk. I knew he had been up all night trying to master it but, seriously, he was dreaming about it now?

"What is the answer!?" the professor hissed.

"The answer… Is the right one?" Yuya said sleepily. I couldn't take it, I pulled out my punch-line fan and smacked him across the head, sending him flying.

"That's never the right answer!" I wailed.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologised as we strolled through the school grounds. I sighed. Trying to make him care wasn't going to work. He was just going to have to wake up and smell the coffee one day.

"Yuya-niichan!" familiar voices called from the gates, we stared up to see Tatsuya, Futoshi and Ayu. "We want to see a Pendulum summon!"

_Oh, not again_, I thought. Even though Yuya claimed he had mastered it, it was probably going to be the same result after he duelled me. An Error and a major failure, resulting in him crying into his goggles.

Then, three rubber darts hit Yuya between his eyes, just above his nose. We turned to see someone we had never seen before. He had blonde bangs but brown hair. Yep, never seen him before in my life. And is he aware of others around him? He could have taken Yuya's eye out, if he had moved.

He introduced himself as Sawatari Shingo and claimed to be a big fan of Yuya. Alarm bells were going off in my head already. People with that big an ego, that high self-esteem and that kind of personality don't fan for anything other than themselves. I started smelling a rat when he claimed he had booked LDS main stadium.

However, I decided not to say anything. If we went as guests, it would probably be the only time we could go into the Leo Duel School after the duel against Strong Ishijima. We weren't nearly as rich or talented to attend there.

So, at five o'clock, instead of heading over to You Show Duel School, we arrived at the Leo Duel School. I felt a pang in my gut. My father was probably having a meltdown at why we weren't at school. And the answer was because we were going to a richer one.

_It's just for a couple of hours_, I thought. _It's not like we're transferring._

I was completely blown away at the size and numbers of the place. The lobby alone could have fitted our whole school building inside it. And every inch of it was crawling with students.

I felt the piercing glares as they identified us as outsiders. We stuck close beside Sawatari, always keeping an eye on the little ones who were completely transfixed by it all.

Of cource, Sawatari-Big-Head started bragging about the facilities and how they were so much better than ours.

"Well, I'm sorry that we're a run-down school," I muttered.

Before I knew it, we were standing in the LDS main arena. It was huge, ten time the size of our school's arena. In fact, it was too big. Imagine having to run for action cards in this stadium. I stared up to the sky to see the blue heavens.

"So cool," one of the kids whispered.

_What happens when it rains_? Was my immediate thought.

My eyes zeroed in on three boys coming closer. They were older, taller and stronger than us, obviously. They also all wore a smirk that resembled our 'tour guide'. Sawatari grinned and said that they were also fans.

"So, can we see the Pendulum cards?" he asked, coming closer.

_Something was wrong._

"Hey, Yuya…" I tried to attract his attention. He looked just as uncomfortable as I was, shifting from one foot to the other. Reluctantly, he pulled the cards out of his deck and handed them to the Leo Duel School students. They crowded around, chatting away about how cool they were.

They weren't my cards, but I didn't like not being able to see them. They could be doing anything, with their backs turned.

I wish I could say I was surprised when he turned around, claiming that they were his and how he was going to summon them. I knew something like this was going to happen, but that didn't stop me from wanting to bash his head in.

I felt my stomach drop as two of Sawatari's minions surrounded me and grabbed my arms. I wiggled and kicked at them but they didn't lose their iron grips. I heard three distressed cries to see that the three, innocent kids had been taken hostage too.

My blood was boiling. I was determined to free myself and rescue the four children. Yes, I still count Yuya as a child. However, getting the cards back would be a problem without ripping out Sawatari's deck and going through all of his shiny cards.

I didn't even notice that all of us hostages had been dragged to the viewing square, so we could be part of the action duel. I was awoken from my fit of rage when I discovered that we were slowly ascending towards a dark sky. The ground rumbled and I stared down to see an immense drop. I couldn't guess how far up we were, I was too nauseous.

"Yuzu!" I heard the familiar cry. I swallowed my fear, seeing Yuya desperately trying to get to us, jumping on rising buildings, his hand outstretched.

"Yuya!" was all I could scream in my terror, desperately reaching out for his hand, even though he was miles away from me and had stopped rising. However, this chained tower that we were stuck on just wouldn't stop. I gripped onto Tatsuya, Futoshi and Ayu so that they wouldn't fall off.

Finally after what seemed like a century, the tower stopped. We were definitely on the tallest building in the whole action duel and we had no way down.

Taking a deep breath, I glanced down, ignoring the column of water stretching out below me, to Yuya, who had no choice but to duel.

However, this was playing out exactly how Sawatari wanted it to. Yuya had lost his best cards and he wasn't even thinking straight. He was desperate to get us down. He was already off, using Entermate Whip Viper to swing himself from building to building.

Finally, he arrived at the bridge and grabbed an action card. However, all I could see was a load of massive snooker balls cascading towards him, crushing the snake monster flat. Then, the spheres crashed into the side of our tower.

I fought as scream as the floor started tilting sideways and we all slipped to the edge, the water swirling dangerously below us. I did scream as I felt another tremor, caused by Yuma picking up another action trap card.

_You would have thought he had learned_, I inwardly curse as I grab Futoshi's hand, as he toppled off the side.

Yuya was in a jam. Sawatari had Pendulum Summoned.

I was also in a jam, pulling the chubby child back onto the tower. This building was going to crumble and we were standing right on top of it.


	4. Chapter 4- A Strand of Hope!

**Cat: Hey guys! Sorry this took a while, i had exams!**

**Rena: Anyway, here is In the Mind of Yuzu, episode 4! **

**Cat: I love that episode!**

**Rena: Please review!**

**Cat: This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. ****If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame****. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

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Chapter 4- A Strand of Hope! Block Spider!

"This… Can't be happening..." Yuya whispered. His beloved cards had been summoned against him and he was stuck. He summoned them as If he had been summoning them his whole life. He just knew how to do it. Was it like when Yuya duelled Strong Ishijima? Or did he have background knowledge on this summon? I wasn't really paying attention though, I was desperately trying not to slip and send us all tumbling into a fast flowing river.

"Pendulum summoning is the BEST!" Sawatari screamed, drunk off his own achievement. Hopefully, he would also have a hangover once it was over. Hey, every dark cloud has a silver lining. Just wait till I got down there and beat the hell out of him!

Sawatari attacked with his Pendulum summoned monsters. Yuya desperately tried to evade him, jumping onto Water Slider's back and missing the missiles sent in his direction.

"No, it might be a trap again!" Yuya cried. Did he see an action card? Even he wasn't stupid enough to try a third time. It could be the end of him if he activated another trap, not forgetting us.

"_I _missed!?" Shino demanded, as Yuya activated his monsters ability, sending it into defence and negating the attack. Dude, you really have to be a rich, arrogant snob to be so surprised that he missed. It was a duel, not a one-sided onslaught.

"But I've still got plenty of Pendulum Summoned monsters left!" he announced. Oh, yeah, forgot about that.

**Splash**! Yuya fell into the river, as his monster was destroyed by another pendulum monster. This really wasn't looking good, for Yuya or us.

"Direct attack!" Yuya was flung out of the water and smacked into the base of the bridge, followed by several explosive darts that exploded on impact. The bridge shook, shaking the chained tower.

"It's all over now!" Futoshi wailed, as I wobbled perilously. Luckily I had the other two to anchor me to the wall, as I gripped onto the wall like a monkey but with much less practise or skill.

"No, it's not!" I yelled. I had to be positive. Yuya only had 600 life points and I, along with three children, all under the age of ten, were on the verge of plunging to our deaths.

"We can't give up if Yuya hasn't!" I cry, holding on for dear life. He nodded feebly, not willing to throw in the towel just yet. I was seriously starting to doubt the health and safety standards of this academy.

My hands were getting sticky and slippery from sweat of the strain my small body was under, the stress of Yuya's duel and the ominous threat of death. I blinked when I heard him _laughing _down below us.

"What're you laughing at?" Sawatari demanded. Yuya never gave us an answer as he drew and summoned Block Spider in attack mode.

_Sure, if you don't want to tell Mr. Sociopath, fine by me. But at least tell __**me**__ why you're laughing, while I'm on the verge of death!_

"That's a garbage card you're using there!" Sawatari laughed, pointing out that it had zero attack points and it was in attack position.

_Yuya, please don't tell me you were supposed to put it in defence but forgot! _I screamed internally. Its sounds like a really stupid thing to do, but Yuya was no stranger to that mistake.

"Its level was so low, I don't even remember owning that card!" the Leo Duel School student shrugged, as Yuya reminded him that Block Spider was originally the blonde's card.

"When Block Spider is on the field, you can only attack him and no other monster!" Yuya announced.

"But he's the only monster on your field!" I really hated to admit it but I had exactly the same thought of the student who had forced me onto this tower. Did Yuya hit his head a little too hard on the bridge?

Then, everything made sense when he played the spell, Mimiclay (and set the spider to defence, after all). Mimicaly let him summon another Block Spider, with the same effect. And so, the effects contradicted each other, meaning Yuya's opponent couldn't attack.

I'll hand it to Yuya; that was pretty smart.

"I was wondering what you were doing but you just doubled your garbage cards!" Shingo smirked, still looking down on the common monsters.

Only when Yuya explained, did he pale slightly. Yeah, can any of your expensive cards pull that off, rich kid?

Then, Sawatari started laughing. _Not good!_ "I really am chosen by the cards!" he giggled. So, what, it was a religion now!?

Set Pendulum cards can be counted as magic cards, apparently, according to the LDS kid. How the heck did he know that? _This was really not good._ Using his spell, and negating the effects of Yuya's two magicians- that were now spells- he stopped the effect of mimiclay and killed the 'no attacking' tactic Yuya had.

_It's over, _I thought. Then, in a turn of events, Yuya managed to add an extra 2300 defence points onto the remaining spider, using a spell, giving the small monster a monstrous 2400 defence points and also, it couldn't be destroyed.

"Yeah, awesome!" Futoshi cheered, as he still dangled off the edge. Only he could forget that he was close to falling and drowning by watching Yuya duel. Admittedly, at a couple of rare moments, so did I.

"I knew Yuya-nii-chan could do it!" the Tatsuya cried, still clinging around my waist. All I could do was smile happily, sigh and nod. Why was I like this whenever Yuya duelled? At least I wasn't the only one, as we all watched in anticipation.

"You're doing more things I didn't plan for-!" Shingo screamed in anguish.

_Yeah! And now Yuya is gonna kick your-_

"-Just kidding!" he smirked and burst into more hysterical laughter. This guy was worse than Yuya for bursting into laughter and not bothering to explain why.

"Man, being this skilled is so rough!" he said arrogantly. Could you be born like this or did you learn to be a spoilt brat? Or was he dropped on the head when he was a baby or something? I have honestly never met such an obnoxious brat and I knew Yuya and my dad!

_Trouble_! Was my immediate thought as Sawatari Shingo started merging his metal monsters together into one behemoth robot. I desperately started yanking hard on … wrists, trying to pull him back. If this monster attacked, it was going to shake more than just the tower. I wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer either.

Slowly but surely, we were pitching forward, my upper body strength about to fail me. … desperately trying to scramble up, realising the danger we were in. The others clung even tighter than they did before, squeezing the air out of me, which wasn't really helping, all three whimpering 'Yuzu-nee-chan!' over and over, as if it was giving them comfort.

Also, to make matters even worse, the new monster could inflict piecing damage. So, if it attacked it would still deal Yuya the damage, which was 600 points. He only had 600 life points yet.

"It's over!" his face contorted into an ugly, self-confident grin, his eyes bulging repulsively. I felt sorry for his future wife, if he had one at all.

Yuya stood motionless, standing his ground and keeping his cool, watching the darts fly towards him. That meant he had a plan.

Or was too scared to even cry.

The whole bridge and tower shook at the immense shock that rocked the entire fake city. My heart lurched as … hand slipped. I was about to open my mouth to scream. To Yuya, to _anyone_ but then, so did mine. All four of us hurtled to the ground, shrieking. I lost my grip on – and '' we all split up, my arms outstretched, trying to grab onto them or anything to stop falling.

In a way, it seemed fitting. I was going to die in an Action Duel. But in most ways, it didn't. I was too young to die! I hadn't even been on a date yet! I hadn't had my first kiss or had any children. _**I WAS NOT GOING TO DIE!**_

"Yuya-nii-chan!" Tatsuya screamed. The water was getting closer and closer and I was still fuming that I was never going to be able to go shopping for my wedding dress.

Then, out of nowhere, someone caught me. I stared up to see one of Yuya's pendulum monsters had stopped me from drowning. He also reached out and caught '', like it was all in a days work. Quickly casting my gaze, I saw the dark-clad magician carrying the two boys.

"Arigato Gozimasu," I thanked the Pendulum monster, relief spreading through me. I was going to live another day. Once again, my future seen irrelevant and unimportant. We were gently placed beside Yuya. I had never been so happy to feel my feet on solid ground and I had never been so relieved to see Yuya.

Then, our saviours vanished in a yellow glow. Wait, they were on Sawatari's side, why were they doing Yuya's bidding? Did he play something while we were falling, that I missed?

Wait, he was duelling… When I, his best friend, could have DIED!? I was going to hit him so hard with my fan, he was going to bruise.

Shingo was extremely angry and released his ultimate monster back into the original three. Not that I cared really. I trusted Yuya. And now that he didn't have to worry about us, he could duel with no worries.

"Sorry for putting you guys through that," Yuya smiled apologetically. My anger faded immediately. How could I remain angry at him?

"It's so thrilling it gave me shivers, Yuya-nii-chan!" Futoshi grinned. Did he remember that he had just been hanging from a tower and had almost died!?

"Alright, now it's time for a comeback!" I grip my fists, smiling at him as Ayu cheered loudly. Honestly, who needs cheerleaders when you had us? For some reason, Sawatari seemed really hacked off. He needed his own cheer team. Wait, where were his lackeys anyway?

"The fun has just begun!" Yuya cried. Then, the lights went out, plunging us in darkness.

"Oh yeah! It's happening!" Futoshi cried, all three of them smiling brighter that the sun that we currently couldn't see.

"Now, everyone with me!" Ayu squealed.

"Pendulum! Pendulum!" I cried, pumping the air with my arm. Damn, this chant was addictive.

"_Pendulum! Pendulum!" _a small voice cried from somewhere. I blinked and stared around but couldn't locate where it was coming from.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" cried the all-too-familiar-voice. "Today we have a spectacular light show for you!"

"Everyone! You already know what to shout, right?" Yuya asked, getting his audience involved and they were loving every minute of it.

"That was perfect Yuya!" I screamed over to him, as he successfully summoned the familiar cards.

"What about that was perfect?" Sawatari sneered.

_Shut up! I was not talking to you!_ I spat in my head.

"My dear audience," Yuya held up both his arms and gestured to us, as he activated his scorpion (which he just summoned through pendulum) effect. "It may be bright but don't close your eyes!"

"What's going on?" the opponent demanded, as the scorpion zapped his monster. All three of his monsters began to glow. Then Yuya selected his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and announced that his dragon could now attack multiple times because of how many of Sawatari's monsters were on the field.

"It's so beautiful," Ayu cooed, as the mirages of the dragon flew in the jet black sky.

"Now, everybody, do you know what Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's effect is?" Yuya asked, sounding like a teacher. In a way, that kind of job would suit him apart from the fact he was a complete dunce.

"Whenever it battles a level five or higher monster, all battle damage is doubled! Tatsuya called over to Yuya.

"Correct!" Yuya smiled, turning back to Shingo. "And with that, I'll have you take double the damage!"

"D-Double!?" he screamed.

Splash! The first mirage exploded into first monster and now Sawatari was in the river. Pulling himself out, he ran desperately as mirage number two attacked the second monster.

"And the damage is… double!" Yuya cheered, as Sawatari Shingo's life points dwindled.

"Again!?" he screamed, as he was sent flying by the explosion.

Yuya declared his attack with his real Odd-Eyes. The dragon lumbered forwards, then sent a flare towards the last monster.

"And, of course," Yuya looked over at us again. "The damage is…?"

"DOUBLE!" we all cheer, as we all jump in the air. Sawatari lay on the ground, looking seriously annoyed at this whole embarrassing ordeal. However, even with the three attacks, he still had life points.

_Don't tell me… Yuya got his maths wrong again… _Then, I took one look at my red-and-green haired best friend. There are many advantages to having a best friend. A big plus is that you can tell what they were thinking, just by their facial expression.

"Its fine, look at Yuya's face," I smile, reassuring the younger ones.

"Yuya-nii-chan is going to win!" Tatsuya said, smiling. Yeah, he totally was.

And, of course, he did. By using his Entermate Fliptoad's special ability, he swapped his Box Spider half of his defence points, of 1200. Shingo only had 1200 life points left. He was a goner.

He looked like he was about to cry. Poor thing. He was so used to getting his way. At least we were teaching him a life lesson. You don't always win.

"Now, what will happen when I attack your remaining 1200 life points with my 1200 attack point Block Spider?" Yuya asked. "Minna-san, do you know the answer?"

"Of course we do!" I cheer along with the younger children. This feeling was amazing.

"And the answer is?"

The Leo Duel School student gasped loudly, when the very card he called trash, flew over and exploded.

"ZERO!" We all screamed, as Sawatari's life points hit zero. Once again, Yuya had pulled through the odds and won. Fireworks erupted around him as we all cheered in excitement.

And then it was all gone. The dark sky, the tall buildings, the river. It was all gone and we were back at Leo Duel School. I never thought I would be so happy to see it. Yuya had the Pendulum cards back and he had won. Against an elite from Leo Duel School, too. We were never going to live it down.

Then, Sawatari shouted about taking the cards by force. We were now back with the issue we had before the duel. They were older, taller and stronger and we had nowhere to run. Then, there was a quick flash and all four boys crumpled.

"What the?" I squeaked. We stared at the short person standing in front of us. He looked slightly older than Ayu and Futoshi but younger than me and Yuya.

"I'm going to be your apprentice!" he announced, looking up at Yuya with adoring eyes.

"What?" we all questioned at the same time. What a thing to ask. He didn't even know Yuya! And he wanted to be his apprentice?

"Did you do that?" I pointed at the others.

"They're just out cold," he answered, as if it was totally normal. I gulped. If he could do that with ease, what else was he capable of?

And that's how we met Shiunin Sora.

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**Cat: Please review! Even if your reading this tomorrow, next week, next year or the next century, please review!**

**Rena: Also, for the people who have seen other Yu-Gi-Oh!, what do you think of Arc V? I'm curious to hear what other people think about the whole thing.**


	5. Chapter 5- An Aspiring Apprentice?

**Cat: Ok, here's chapter 5!**

**Rena: Please review!**

**Cat: This story is in Yuzu's POV. ****Please give me some artistic licence****. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

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Chapter 5- An Aspiring Apprentice? Shiunin Sora's Peculiar Persuit!

"Ehhh? So he's at your house right now?" I asked, trying to hide my giggles. I had to admit, I was super impressed with this kid, following Yuya around. Apparently, Yuya woke up this morning to Sora eating breakfast in his house. Not even I could do that for long (not that I've ever tried, of course). Next thing I know, he's right behind us. Wow, talk about commitment.

"Anywhere you go, I follow, shishou!" he chimed happily. Ok, maybe not commitment, more like obsession. I frowned slightly, luckily no one was looking at me to notice.

"Pendulum summoning is amazing, I've never seen anything like it!" he continued, after Yuya pointed out that he was never his teacher in the first place.

"Can you ask him to do it for me, nee-chan?" he asked me. So what, I'm the go-between!?

"Why should I do it?" I complained, leaning back slightly. This kid was going to make us late for school again and, this time, Yuya hadn't planned it on purpose.

"Because, teacher might do it if his girlfriend asks him," Sora smiled.

_Loading…_

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_Error…_

_Reboot…_

"G-Girlfriend?" I asked, desperately holding down the urge to smack this kid on the head. That was going to haunt me for weeks.

"What? Did I get it wrong?" he asked, innocently.

"You did!" we both yelled, towering over him. Was it just me, or was he trying to distance me from Yuya by making things awkward?

"Why would I be with such a crude-"

_What?_

"-Strong-"

_He's saying that in a mean way…_

"-Girl like her?" Yuya pointed at me, to make sure there was no mistake. It was like he and Sora had taken an axe, then a chainsaw to my tree of self-confidence. That made me mad, as Yuya found out the hard way.

I smacked him over the head with my punch-line fan, even though there was no obvious punch-line. I stormed off, pretending to be mad but secretly trying not to cry.

"Why does he have to say it like that? Who does he think I am?" I hissed, continuing the walk alone. However, neither boy seemed to care.

* * *

"Hey, I'm sorry about this morning," a familiar voice called from behind the bench I was sitting at, about to eat my lunch.

"Save it," I said sourly, knotting my lunch back up again, about to move to another space.

"Aww, come on, you know that won't work!" Yuya smiled, standing up and following me. Desperately, I tried to lose him but he kept showing. From behind chairs, tables, doors, bins. I couldn't escape.

"This is slightly hypocritical," I sighed, as I gave up and dumped myself back on the bench we had started at. "You yell at a little boy all morning about following you and how annoying it is; then you follow me!"

"Oh come on!" Yuya swung his legs. "At least I don't go around accusing people's girlfriends- I mean! Friends who are _girls_- as girlfriends!"

I smiled slightly, any other girl would take his word slip as a hint. But I knew better. It was just a word slip. And that's what made me laugh.

"But I really am sorry," Yuya said, in rare seriousness. I blinked. "For what I said. You know me well enough to know that I didn't mean it like _that._ It just came out wrong and I didn't want Sora to get the wrong idea."

"Nah, it's ok," I smiled, as he opened his bento and pulled out a fried shrimp on his chopsticks. He was about to swallow it whole when-

"Shishou!" the annoying voice cried from behind the bench we were sitting at.

_Wasn't he supposed to be at school?_

* * *

And then, the demon appeared under his desk. We both screamed loudly, earning ourselves both detentions. Sensei didn't even think twice about the kid under the desk.

* * *

The sun was setting as we plodded back along the pavement. Yuya stared intently at it, an aura of despair drifting off him. I hadn't seen Sora for the rest of the day, after the desk incident but Yuya had seen him everywhere, including the bathroom.

Yikes.

"Hey, Yuya, how long are you gonna stare at the floor like that?" I asked. "Don't bring that gloomy expression to our duel school!"

I spent my time trying to cheer him up. This kid was seriously depressing him. I don't think that even I've put Yuya in such a mood for so long. However, I knew that this kid was just going to keep coming back and becoming the bane of Yuya's life. And also mine.

And, the little brat was back, speak of the devil. Sitting with Ayu, Futoshi and Tatsuya at the Duel School. He hadn't even enrolled, how did he get in?

"Yuya, seeing as he's your apprentice, that means he'll be enrolling here, right?" and there was my dad, right in there.

I wasn't surprised when Sora started to beg to duel Yuya. He was so desperate, sparkles started flying round him. Urgh, gross.

"Sure, just once is ok," I smiled falsely, just to stop Sora sparkling.

Then, even Yuya caved.

"Fine, but if I win, there is no more of this teacher nonsense and you will stop following me around!"

"Sure! So, does that mean that if I win, I can call you teacher and follow you around everywhere?"

* * *

Woah, I'll hand it to the Leo Duel School and their technology. It really does rule. Using the new technology that Yuya had won, several new fields were available to us, instead of the flat plain and the traditional Japanese temple.

Instead, Yuya and Sora were standing in a wild-west setting, all the stereo typical bars and wooden houses, with shutters and rocking chairs on their porches. It looked like it came straight out of an old cowboy movie.

"What is this? It's so boring! I hate these kinds of things!" he whined. Ungrateful brat. Did he hate the Wild West scenario? Or was it that there were no visible action cards in sight?

Then, it all changed to a world full of sweets. My father would jump off a bridge if Sora asked. It annoyed me slightly. If I complained about the setting of the duel, my father would swap me on with someone else.

"He's so adorable!" my father cheered, down the mic, as Sora announced that he loved this duel field and thanked him for it. _Shut up, you're embarrassing yourself, Dad!_

"Duelists locked in battle!" I cried.

"Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" Tatsuya cheered.

"They storm through this field!" Futoshi punched the sky.

"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of duelling!" Ayu announced.

"Action…" Yuya began.

"Duel!" he and Sora shouted. And so, the game began.

* * *

"He looks like he's actually pretty good…" I muttered. Then again, what did I expect? This kid could have gotten into Leo Duel School and to get there, you have to be loaded and skilled. But, seeing as Yuya had beaten Sawatari, he should scrape through.

However, Sora was different from Sawatari in the fact that he had the most adorable deck ever. They were all really cute toys and, even I have to admit, I wanted to hug them.

"Kawaii!" Ayu and I both cheer. I admit, they were cute but I mainly did it for the benefit of the younger girl.

"Yuya-nii-chan! In front of you!" Futoshi screamed, pointing at the large pool that Yuya was about to ride into and did. They hung in mid-air for a second, blinking, then landed with a splash. Both he and the hippo surface, gasping for air and clutching the side of the pool.

_Hey, when did Yuya pick up that Action Card? _I wondered, as he evaded Sora's attack. _Wait, did he deliberately fall in the pool to get it?_

"That's correct!" Yuya cheered to Futoshi and Tatsuya, who had voiced what I was thinking.

"Yuya! In front of you!" my dad and I yell, for a second time, as he crashes into a chocolate Swiss roll-like building.

We all sighed, I was relieved that Yuya hadn't made a complete idiot of himself. But I think my dad was more worried about the walls of the school building, hidden under the duel programming.

"Is that an action card?" I yell, as Yuya brandished yet another card with the letter A across the back.

Yuya watched as Sora balanced on top of his two monsters, in order to reach an action card_. Ok, that was a little harsh_, I thought, as Yuya grabbed the card that Sora had desperately been reaching for.

It was the first time Yuya had consciously summoned it, without it being stolen. For some reason, I didn't count the Pendulum summon against Sawatari as a proper summon, seeing as Sawatari summoned it too. Yuya was against odds in that duel. However, this was just for a bit of fun. Well, maybe he didn't see it that way but it wouldn't be the end of the world if Yuya lost. Well, actually, it could be the end of his sanity if he lost… Even so, the Pendulum summon still took my breath away.

"Wow, that was amazing, Shishou!" Sora cheered, from the roof of the candy house he was sitting on. Did he realise what position he was in?

He obviously realised that a little too late, as the dragon charged in and attacked his lion. The explosion sent Sora flying off the roof and onto a pile of jelly beans and marshmallows.

"Is he alright?" Ayu asked quietly, as Sora didn't move.

"Yuya, don't you feel sorry for him?" I asked, staring over at my childhood friend. Now that I really thought about it, Sora reminded me a bit of, well… Yuya actually. When Yuya was younger, he was just as clingy and picky about everything. Not to Sora's level but still, similar.

Was it just personalities clashing slightly?

"Huh? But this is a duel!" Yuya replied to me. Before he could say any more, Sora's laughter floated to our ears, sending our eyes back on him. He had woken up, or stopped his act and was laughing hysterically as he lay on his back.

Sora drew and smiled. "Now that I have this card, I can show you the full strength of my deck!"

So, what, does that mean he hadn't been playing seriously?

My heart almost stopped when I saw his spell card.

Fusion? Fusion? As in, super-rare because-it's-so-old fusion?!

I never really liked the concept of fusions. Monsters are moulded together to create a new one? This might just be me, but in a way, it's kinda creepy. Another thing about fusions is that, even though their powerful, the monsters are rarely pleasing on the eye.

As Sora easily proved by summoning a bear that had been ripped apart by scissors. Great, that was definitely going to haunt my sleep for the next few nights. I was seriously creeped, and so was Ayu, who was clutching my skirt in fear. The boys, of course, were awed.

"Now, shishou, I'm going to show you what happens when I get serious!" Sora announced.

_Who is this kid? _I wanted to ask, as Yuya pulled a brave face.

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**Cat: Hope you enjoyed!**

**Rena: Chapter 6 coming soon!**


	6. Chapter 6- The Innocent Toy

**Cat: Hey, here's the sixth episode in Yuzu's POV. I couldn't actually do much, in this duel, so sorry if you don't like it much...**

**Rena: Please review!**

**Cat: Off to write episode 7 now...**

**Rena: This story is in Yuzu's POV. ****Please give me some artistic licence.**** If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

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Chapter 6- The Innocent Toy: Death-Toy Scissor Bear!

"This is fusion summon!" My dad and I exclaim, transfixed on the duel. This was a first. Yuya had his two Pendulum monsters out and his favourite Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, and he was in a jam.

"I heard they started teaching it at LDS," my dad folded his arms. "Could it really be that he's a student there?"

No, that wasn't possible. He hadn't even enrolled there yet. He said so. Even if he had, he would be too young for the school to teach him rare and expensive moves. That card was probably worth more than my whole deck put together. I remembered a really old fusion card, Elemental Hero Flame Wing Man, sold for ten million U.S dollars a couple of weeks before.

"Yuya!" I cried, as the terrifying teddy hit the pink hippo and sent them both for a dive in a pond of funny light brown liquid. I was relieved to see that he was ok (I knew he wasn't the most confident swimmer) even though he was completely drenched in (what I presume) apple juice.

My stomach lurched as the teddy dragged the hippo up, out of the pond and ate it like Yuya eats his bento at school. Seriously, was this kid a sadist? The hippo was only being added as an equip card, did we need the whole eating thing?

"An attack of 3000 attack points!" I cried, as the creepy bear grew in size, to tower over everything on the duel field.

"It's greater than Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon's!" Tatsuya pointed out, looking terrified.

"Des-Toy Scissor Bear, what a terrifying card!" my father gasped. Wow, was he scared too? So much for adult supervision. Looks like I was going to have to comfort everyone because of their fear of this monster.

Then, when Yuya reversed his trap card with Chronomancy Magician, Sora began wooing over the effect. Did he let Yuya activate it on purpose? Apparently not, when he uses it as a fluke to activate another trap. The same one as before.

Wow, this kid was good. He knew exactly how to counter the effects of monsters that had only been seen… Once by the public.

"Magician of Chronomancy's effect can only be used once per turn," I muttered, worrying that Yuya was going to have a little tag-along-student for the rest of his life.

Yuya was losing his cool, which was evident by the ungraceful backwards flying dragon and Yuya, hitting the ground and rolling slightly. And now, the dragon's points were down to nine hundred.

"Don't tell me you're all out of options, shishou," the boy taunted. "If you are, I'm really disappointed."

Yuya was taking the bait. He was overlooking obvious stuff because this kid was rattling him.

"Yuya…" I whispered. This wasn't a serious duel, why was I getting so worked up over it?

Now, because of his spell card, Sora announced that he could attack three times with his fusion monster because he would have three equipped monsters. Firstly, he had Yuya's hippo equipped, meaning he could only attack once. But, if he destroys another of Yuya's monsters, he would get another equip and be able to attack again.

"Is this the power of fusion monsters?" my dad mused. I would have to call my mum and tell her to hide the bank cards, so he doesn't go out and try buy the rare and expensive cards.

"Is Yuya-nii-chan going to lose?" Ayu asked me, her eyes full of wonder.

"It'll be fine, it's Yuya after all!" I assured her. We had to believe in Yuya, even if he was in a jam. He was thinking hard, more than he had ever done before in school. "He won't give up on this!"

_Because he is __**way **__too stubborn_, I sighed inwardly.

Then, it became a race for the action card. The only one around that could save Yuya. But then Sora jumps in front and takes it, even though he didn't need it. Yep, a sadist alright. Or was he just getting revenge for Yuya doing it to him earlier? Karma.

It turned out that this blue-haired kid was ten times more agile than we thought, as he leapt from roofs of houses and on top of the large lollipops, sticking out of the ground. His whole balancing on the monsters he had done the last time he wanted a card was a hoax. He knew what he was doing. Heck, he was as fast and graceful as a ninja.

He wasn't just duelling, he was playing mind games.

"Wow," I muttered. I had done training to catch Action cards for years and I don't think that I would ever be that fast. I couldn't help feeling impressed, even though I could sense Yuya being slightly put off by us only goggling at Sora's moves.

Seconds later, Odd-Eyes was sent for a swim, which he didn't resurface from. Yuya had his back to us but I could just see him pulling his goggles over his eyes. Yuya was a sensitive soul and Sora just knew how to push his buttons. That was it, I was going to give this kid a _serious _talking too, once this duel was over. No-one made Yuya cry on my watch.

"That card represents what gives Yuya the courage to press onward," I look at my goggled-friend.

"Yuya-oniichan's heart got damaged as well…" Little Tatsuya whispered. They all looked just as worried about Yuya as I was. That was the good thing about our school. We may be few in numbers and not be the best duelists, but we all had each other's backs and we worried for each other. We were like a gigantic family, cheesy as it sounds.

"Don't lose, Yuya-nii-chan!" Futoshi screamed, hurting my ears.

"Yuya…" I stared at him intently.

"You sound like an anxious mother," my dad chuckled, watching me.

"Shut up! I'm _worried _about him!" I hissed, digging my elbow into his stomach.

Then, came the laughing. My dad and I turned to see Yuya laughing, like normal. _Honestly, what were we worrying about? This is Yuya, we're talking about!_

He placed his goggles back, still laughing. Maybe he thought we wouldn't notice, or that we were too far away to see, but I saw the remnants of tears clogging the sides of his eyes.

The bear continued fishing for the drowning dragon. However, after many attempts, it gave up, looking even more irritated than it already looked. Huh? Then, where was Odd-Eyes?

"Huh?" Sora cocked his head. "Why can't I find Odd-Eyes?"

"The destroyed Odd-Eyes isn't in the graveyard…" Yuya still had his back to us, as he said that.

"Isn't that cheating?" I whispered to my dad, who had his face pressed up against the glass, looking for the reason Odd-Eyes wasn't in the grave. Yuya wasn't a cheat but, seriously, where was that dragon?

"Odd-Eyes is in my Extra Deck!" Yuya announced, turning to face the younger boy, his confident look returned. What? Odd-Eyes didn't have that effect! At least, not since I last checked.

"When did it move there?" I demanded, wanting an explanation that I knew I would probably never receive in the near future. Knowing him, he probably didn't know himself.

In the end, I got an explanation from Sora (of all people). Destroyed Pendulum monsters went to the Extra Deck, not the Graveyard and because of this, it couldn't be equipped. And so, Sora couldn't attack again.

Now it was Yuya's turn. At first, I thought he was bluffing when he started talking like a ringmaster. Then, I realised. He wasn't kidding. He was about to Pendulum Summon _again_!

"Firstly, I'll be introducing you to a new Pendulum monster!" Yuya announced. "Level two, Cheer Mole!"

A shy, cute, pink mole appeared in a cheerleading uniform. Ok, I've seen weirder but really, Yuya? A cheerleading mole? The mole buried itself in a hole in the floor.

And then, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, again. So, it appears you could also summon them from your extra deck. Thanks for clearing that up, Yuya.

"Now, a simple arithmetic question!" he turned to us (mainly the younger ones) and grinned. "What's 3000 take away 600?"

"2400!" the kids screamed in delight, knowing what was coming.

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon had 2500 attack points!" I pointed out, smiling. "You can defeat Des-Toy Scissor Bear!"

Yuya nodded and returned to the duel.

Sora pointed out that, even if his monster was destroyed, he still wouldn't lose. Yuya pulled a face, proving that Sora was going down.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please pay attention! Cheer Mole is about to dance for us!" Yuya announced, as the shy creature appeared from out of her hole and started a little cheerleading dance. Apparently, the cute dance powered up a monster by 1000 attack points.

"Ok everyone! With me!" Yuya cheered, after he pointed out that, when battling a level 5 monster, the damage is doubled when attacking with Odd-Eyes.

"Battle!" We all cry, as the dragon lumbers forward and destroys the freaky bear, sending Sora into a heap of cream on the Action Field.

It felt like a large weight had been lifted off my heart and I could breathe again, when Sora's life hit zero with a squeak. I breathed a sigh of relief as the children celebrated and my dad stared on in amazement.

The area vanished, leaving the familiar boring walls of the school. Sora sat in the corner, his shoulders shaking. At first, I thought he was crying. Yuya strolled over to him, to see if he was ok, only to find him laughing.

"That was awesome, Yuya!" he cheered.

"Why are you using my first name?" Yuya complained.

"If I can't be your apprentice, I'll just be your friend!" the boy waved his arms enthusiastically.

The duel had barely ended thirty seconds before, and my dad was already enrolling Sora into the school. "I'll go get the paperwork!" he announced, and then was gone.

Not being a Leo Duel School student, Yuya asked where Sora had learned to Fusion summon. He replied that that was totally normal where he came from before. Where did he come from, then? Obviously, nowhere in this city.

"Awww, don't worry about the details," Sora smiled, as Yuya pulled an 'I'm-totally-confused' face. "We're friends now!"

_Wouldn't that be a bigger reason to tell us?_ I wondered, strolling over with the younger students.

We all laughed as Yuya began chasing the boy around, annoyed that they were already on a first-name basis.

"Don't just decide that! I won't accept this!" Yuya wailed.

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**Cat: Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7- Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!

**Cat: ... OMG! Episode 7 was like... WOW!**

**Rena: Our brains are in meltdown!**

**Cat: If you haven't seen episode 7, go watch it! RIGHT NOW! Seriously, you'll be mindblown by the end!**

**Rena: This story is in Yuzu's POV. ****Please give me some artistic licence****. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

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Chapter 7- Imperial Outrage's Standard of Revolt! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!

I jumped slightly as Yuya sneezed slightly.

"Someone's talking about you," I teased, as we strolled into the bathroom.

"Ahhh! This feels great!" Yuya cheered, as he splashed his face in the cold water. We had had a very long day of continuous duelling, thanks to my father's crazy school regime. We were all slightly weak-kneed in exhaustion. I carried towels and handed them out to everyone, as they waited for Yuya and Futoshi to give the sinks to someone else.

"Yuya, you have dirt on the back of your neck!" I pointed out, as he bent down to cup more water in his hands. "Be sure to wash it properly!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yuya muttered, scratching at the spot in question with his wet hand.

I scowled slightly. "You only need to say it once!"

* * *

"Jeez, if they wanted ice-cream that much, they should get it themselves!" I complained to Ayu, as we marched back to the duel school. Immediately, my mind was full of the boys shouting 'ice-cream!' over and over and over. It still was giving me a headache.

"But, while complaining, you still bought them a bunch!" Ayu smiled, her red hair glowing slightly in the setting sun. "You're really nice, Yuzu-onee-chan!"

Normally, I would have thanked the young girl for the compliment, seeing as I rarely get them. However, my whole body stiffened and I stopped walking.

"Onee-chan?" Ayu asked, as I bent down to her level and put my finger to my lips and made the 'shhhh' sound, to tell her to be quiet. I stared at the top of the stone steps in the hill, onto the higher path. Ayu followed my gaze and we saw two LDS students, presumably walking back to school after buying stuff at the corner store.

They strolled along, unwise to our eavesdropping. They were discussing Sawatari. The LDS student that had tried to steal Yuya's Pendulum Cards. Then, one mentioned how Sawatari had said 'I'll do whatever it takes to crush Sakai Yuya'.

Ayu and I gasped. Had I heard right? _Crush_ Yuya?

"… Sounds like he's gonna do something awful!" one said, as they vanished out of sight.

"Sawatari!" I spat, standing up, determined to follow those two lackeys. My blood was boiling. Yuya had kicked his butt, fair and square! Why was he going to come back for more?

"Yuzu-onee-chan!" Ayu cried, jogging after me on her much shorter legs.

We followed them to the docks. One of the last places I expected the rich kids to hang. It was dirty and the warehouses were almost at the point of collapse. What was Sawatari doing here?

"Shouldn't we let Yuya-onii-chan know…?" Ayu asked, clasping her hands together.

_During the last duel with Sawatari, Yuya desperately tried to save me, so now, it's my turn to protect Yuya! _I decided. It had been bugging me for ages that I had no way of repaying Yuya for saving my life. So, this was a good way to do it. However, I couldn't put Ayu in danger, like last time.

"Ayu-chan," I handed her the plastic bag, full of (now melted) ice-creams. "You head back to the duel school!"

"But-" she began, but I was already running. I knew they were in warehouse 52, because of the massive painted sign and because Sawatari's servants had gone straight through. I hadn't seen anyone on lookout or anything, so I didn't bother trying to conceal myself and stood right outside.

Sawatari choked on his cake as I flung the door open. "You coward!" I yelled. One of Sawatari's friends handed him a bottle of water, which he chugged down, coughing and spluttering.

"'I'll do whatever it takes to crush Yuya', you said?" I demanded, trying to look as calm, cool and collected as possible, even though I was two step away from bruising the arrogant student's face. "I will never let you!"

Sawatari was still coughing, water in his eyes from the choking. "Hiiragi Yuzu? What are you doing here!?"

He had some nerve, acting dumb. "I don't have to explain to you! You have pie crumbs on your face!"

And I killed the mood. Great, Yuzu, just great. I mentally slapped myself as the egotistical student wiped his face with a pink satin facecloth, then threw it into the air and watch it float down several meters away.

"Hiiragi Yuzu!" _How did he know my name? _"It looks like you've fallen into our-"

"Duel me!" I pointed at him. I don't know what I was thinking, but it seemed like a good idea. He tried to say something else, but I interrupted him. "I'm gonna beat the _crap_ out of you!"

Once again, he tried to say something, but I yelled over him. I honestly had no interest in what he had to say. He had said enough. He was going to duel me and I was going to kick him butt, just like Yuya but without Pendulum cards. "Are you afraid of losing to me!?"

"Will you just let me talk!?" he demanded, comically. Once again, I mentally slapped myself. Sawatari wasn't Yuya, who would never dream of interrupting me without knowing the consequences.

"I don't plan on listening to you!" I shouted back. "You coward, sore-loser, second-rate duellist!" His eyebrow twitched slightly. Now I had done it. All boys were the same; call them a few names and they demand a duel.

"No, you're even below _that!_ Third rate! Forth! One-hundred rate duelist!" Once again, I pointed at him, to make sure there was no mistake over who I was talking about. In a way, I was trying to get him riled up but in another way, I was letting out pent-up anger I still contained about the duel we had at LDS last week.

"Now you've done it!" he hissed.

My heart plummeted as the light from outside vanished. One of the students had shut the door, my only mean of escape. I was immediately regretting my decision. I should have challenged them outside!

Then, he had the guts to ask me if I wanted to take back what I said. In a way, I did, not because I didn't mean it, but to save my skin. But I refused. He had dangled me from a tower and almost killed me, he stole Yuya's cards and was now threatening to crush Yuya. I was not taking back my words.

Then, I really began fearing for my life when I heard a blood-curdling scream from the door. The student who had shut the door was on the floor, not moving. Light flooded back in, to reveal a silhouette of a figure. His hair stuck up in all directions and his clothes were hidden by some cloak-thing.

He was obviously not one of Sawatari's crew, as the remaining members huddled behind him, as the intruder slowly walked inside. I moved aside, to let him walk past me but he stood where I had just been standing.

"Back down," was all he said.

"Huh? What's with you?" I asked. I was about to duel Sawatari, why was he interrupting?

"Showing up all of a sudden," Sawatari hissed. "Are you supposed to be a knight come to rescue the princess?"

_I do not need rescuing, thank you very much!_

Then, he threw back his arm, revealing a very odd duel disk, as Sawatari pointed out. Wait, was he going to duel in my place!?

"Hold on! What are you doing, butting in like this!?" I demanded. I couldn't see his face because of his really freaky mask. "This is my duel!" I yelled, as I tried to slap my disk on my arm, only to have his hand stop it.

I could just make out grey eyes through the lenses on his mask. "I don't want you to get hurt anymore…" he said. The world pulsed slightly. What? I wasn't hurt, what was he harping on about?

Apart from those words, he didn't say a thing. Even when Sawatari mocked him and told him he was going to make an idiot out of himself.

"I'll crush you!" Sawatari bragged, beginning the duel.

_Hey, it's supposed to be me you're duelling! _I yelled in my head, however I could do nothing now. The duel had begun and all I could do was watch as a complete stranger, in a mask, duelled in my place.

I blinked as the stranger set his whole hand face down. Five cards appeared on the field. He didn't play any of them either, he just ended his turn. My little faith in my replacement shrunk even more. What was with this guy? Announcing that he didn't want me hurt but doesn't duel seriously!?

Sawatari acted as if he had never heard something so ridiculous. He was laughing his head off. He was, once again, mocking him.

_Perhaps… His deck is built that way… And he doesn't use monsters…_ I thought.

"Didn't you hear me? I end my turn," the stranger said.

"I'll show you my perfect duelling!" Sawatari bragged, as he drew. I really hated to admit it, but Sawatari's game was good. Even better than the last time I saw him duel. His deck was different and he had successfully managed to advance summon on his first turn. And, then of course, my 'saviour' was doing nothing!

Using his monsters effect, he managed to destroy two of the five face downs that the masked man had and he still hadn't played a card. Did that mean that those cards weren't as important? Or that he was totally bluffing?

"He's going to release his 2400 attack point Mobius and Advance Summon another monster?" I asked, why didn't he summon the monster he wanted instead of Mobius, seeing as he didn't even attack with him?

He showed us the card, explaining that he would normally have to use two monsters to summon the card he had just advanced summoned, but seeing as his released monster was already advanced summoned, he didn't need to. I wasn't really paying attention, I was too dazzled by the shining card. It was super rare. Once again I wondered how Sawatari afforded all of these cards.

And the effect of this monster was that it could destroy three face downs. Great, just great. The cards were swept away in a gust of wind that ruffled my hair. Wait a second!

"How come I feel the wind when this isn't an action duel?" I asked, however no-one paid me the slightest bit of attention.

Sawatari enjoyed explaining the obvious odds to us. How the intruder had no cards in his hand and none on the field, meaning he was helpless. What was this guy planning? Did he have a plan at all?

"Hey, you need to get it together!" I told him, still determined to get back into the duel I challenged. "If this is all you can do, then it'd be better if you let me-"

He gave me a look with his grey eyes and silenced me.

I started panicking as Sawatari announced a direct attack, his monster creating a blizzard, an _actual _blizzard in the warehouse. What was going on? I gazed around. I saw no action duel gear. How could this be happening?

"I activate my magic card from the graveyard," the purple haired man said.

"You're going to activate a magic card from the graveyard, you say?" Sawatari wailed. This was the second time I have seen him so confused. For some reason, if Sawatari can't pull of a certain move, he acts like he had never seen it before.

Now, he had three defence monsters on the field.

"You set those cards intending to use their special abilities to special summon them, then?" I held a hand up to my face, to protect my eyes from the fast snow.

Sawatari continued his attack, destroying one of the monsters and set a face-down, ending his turn.

"I see you lived to the next round," Sawatari taunted.

"There won't be a next round for you!" Mr. Mask replied. Wow, that was brave, seeing as he was the one losing here.

After drawing, he started talking to Sawatari, saying that he thought he would put up more of a fight. I'm sorry, was I missing something here? Or was this guy delusional?

"All the conditions have been met," he whispered. "I have two monsters of the same level on my field."

I stared, hardly believing what I was thinking. _Was he about to…? No way!_

"I use my level four Shadow Veil to construct the Overlay Network!" he announced, as the two horses disappeared in a purple swirl.

"That's-" I cried, barely believing it. This was the second time in a week I had seen a super rare summon.

"XZY Summon! Rank four! Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!"

"XZY summon?" I whispered. I couldn't believe it. It was huge and powerful and I had never seen anything like it. Sure, it wasn't as rare as Sora's Fusion monster, but that dragon would have cost a lot.

I was amazed at Sawatari's bravery (or was it stupidity?) as he applauded. He was up against an XYZ monster and didn't look a bit worried? I looked over, wondering what the intruder was planning because Shingo was right, his dragon had less attack points.

"It seems your XYZ summon was just a bluff!" Sawatari smirked, playing with his hair.

"I activate Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon's effect!" the XYZ summoner said. "By using one of its overlay units, once per turn, it can half the attack of one level five or higher monster on the field-"

_Wow, what an effect!_

"-And Dark Rebellion XYZ dragon's attack increases by that amount!"

Then, he used the effect again, sending his dragon's attack points up to 4600. This was crazy.

"I attack Mobius the Mega Monarch with my Dark Rebellion XYZ dragon!"

The dragon attacked and Sawatari Shingo was sent flying as his glacier exploded, shaking the whole room. The masked man ran and grabbed me, shielding me from flying debris. I heard a quiet shatter, as one of the lenses of his mask broke because of a small flying stone.

The ground shook and smoke erupted out of the warehouse. Small flames had begun on the floor, but they were no danger to us. Sawatari lay on the floor, with only 100 life points but he was not hurt.

"I will only ask once and you must answer properly!" the masked man called to Sawatari. "Is this badge from LDS?" He held up a shining badge, identical to the one Sawatari had on his collar.

I almost fell over. He interrupted my duel, took my place and caused the impacts of attacks real without Action Duel machines, all to find out what a little badge signified? He could have stopped him on the street and asked!

"What is your connection to the Academia?" he continued.

"A-Academia?" Sawatari asked. "What're you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb!" the purple haired man spat.

"I mean it! Anyone who's enrolled in LDS gets that badge! I don't know anything about this Academia or whatever!" Even though Sawatari was a liar I knew he was telling the truth. "I swear!"

"Then, I have no business with you," and with that, the masked man turned and began to leave.

I was about to demand a duel again, when I heard Sawatari chuckle. Something was up. "Idiot! This duel isn't over yet!"

Seriously, he still wanted to continue? Sheesh, he was as bad as Yuya! He activated a trap but the masked man continued walking, not even glancing back.

I gasped as Sawatari told us that, because his water-type monster had been destroyed, he could destroy the XYZ dragon and deal the owner the dragon's attack points as damage. That meant that the masked man was going to lose the duel!

"Such cheap tactics…" the purple haired person muttered, just loud enough for us all to hear. "It's child's play."

"What?" the LDS student demanded.

Still with his back turned, the intruder activated another card he had in his graveyard. And, as if it was nothing, he destroyed Sawatari's spell.

"And then! It deals 100 points of damage to my opponent!" he announced.

Sawatari's face of unbelieving made him look like a pig. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" he cried, waving his hands in the air and jumping slightly. He obviously had no means of escape.

The spear was so close to impaling Sawatari, I shivered. I didn't like Sawatari but I didn't want to see him impaled. Sawatari was defeated.

Then, the masked man pulled his mask off, to reveal his face.

I could have sworn my stomach hit the floor, the second I saw his face.

"Yuya!" I cried. It was Yuya. But how could it be? I was so confused, I didn't even notice that the LDS students had supported Sawatari out of the building and were running like mad.

Then, my bracelet began glowing brightly (small note, that has _never _happened before) and then, he was gone.

"Wait, what?" I cried. Where was Yuya? Why was Yuya wearing the mask? How did he get here so fast? Why did he ask about the badge? How did Yuya change his hair? Why did Yuya have a XYZ monster!?

"Yuya?!" I called, staring around. He couldn't just vanish, that was impossible!

"Yuzu!" a familiar voice called back. Oh, it was Yuya! So he didn't just disappear! …But it was coming from outside. There he was, in the door way.

In the same uniform, the same hairstyle, no mask, no purple hair. What was going on? Was this his idea of a joke?

"Are you ok?" he asked, running in.

"You're Yuya, right?" I asked, pointing at him.

"Huh, what are you talking about, Yuzu?" he asked, his brown eyes full of puzzlement and fear.

"Then… That wasn't Yuya…" I said, placing my finger on my chin in thought.

"What!?" Yuya was perplexed. "Why does this room smell like smoke? Were you having a bonfire or something? Man, it reeks!"

I don't know whether it was because of the shock, or the confusion or if I was just tired but I suddenly felt the dying urge to burst into floods of tears. Images of the purple-haired-Yuya floated in my mind. I was desperately trying to make a connection. Something to explain what was happening. It felt like my brain had just gone through a blender.

"Hey, Yuzu," Yuya said, grabbing my arm lightly and dragging me out the building. "I'll walk you home. And, while I do that, tell me what happened."

* * *

**Cat: asdfghjkl!**

**Rena: Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8- You Show Duel School's Crisis

**Cat: I found this chapter quite difficult to write because Yuzu was so depressed. I tried to not make her to depressed. Don't kill me.**

**Rena: Oh, by the way, when it says that she was having a 'caffeine shot' or something because of the coffee, we are not suggesting she is addicted or anything along those lines.**

**Cat: Please review! And/or tell me what you think of Arc V 'cause i'm curious ;) Who here hates that theme tune?**

**Rena: ****This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

* * *

Chapter 8- You Show Duel School's Crisis! LDS Invades

For most of my night, I sat in my bath, my knees drawn up against my chest and my arms hugging them tightly. I sat there for hours, until the water became stone cold and my dad had to knock on the door, to see if I was alright.

Physically speaking, I was fine. Never better. But mentally, I was in complete shambles. I was desperately trying to convince myself that that person was not Yuya. That it was some weird coincidence or I was hallucinating. However, the only thing that bothered me was that Yuya was my childhood friend. I knew him better than anybody else. My instincts told me that that was Yuya.

But how could it be? He had _purple _hair. A weird shape disk. An _XYZ monster!_ But, probably, the thing that bugged me the most was that he wasn't having fun. No showy lights, no light-heartedness, no happiness.

In the end, after three hours of sitting in the tub, I pulled myself out, dressed in my pyjamas and lay in my bed, desperately begging for an answer to this complicated puzzle or for sleep to take me.

Sleep came in small phases, only to be haunted by dreams of Yuya and the purple Yuya. Sometimes, Yuya morphed into the purple Yuya and other times, it was the purple Yuya transforming into Yuya. In a few, I was facing the two of them and they both stood there saying; 'choose one of us, Yuzu, only one.'

I awoke in the early hours of the morning, the first and only thing on my mind was the two boys. One I thought I knew and one I didn't. I slipped downstairs and began making myself countless cups of coffee, just for a caffeine shot. I had to wake up. I had to wake up properly.

* * *

It turns out, I didn't wake up properly, even though I had drank more coffee than my dad would in a week. If anything, I was more asleep. I couldn't focus or pay attention in anything. I wasn't even aware when people started talking to me or when Sora was eating food in class.

As per usual, I sat in my ordinary seat, next to Yuya. We have had those allocated seats for years and no one would dream of moving us from those positions. In front was Ayu and Futoshi, beside them was Tatsuya and behind him was Sora.

"I preform a fusion with vanilla ice cream and custard pudding!" Sora whispered, hiding the two pots behind his book. "Devour it all! Sweets Ruler Vanilla Prince!"

"Hey, that's not good!" Yuya chided, as Sora stuffed his face.

Weirdly, I was aware of their conversation but at the same time, did nothing. I was too busy thinking. Shut up inside my head. I couldn't face Yuya without seeing _his _face.

"…If you get caught eating that in class who knows when Yuzu's paper fan will…" Yuya stared at me, only to see me staring at the wall. Something I never do. My father's lectures could be boring but I always listened. It was like our roles were swapped. Yuya was paying attention and telling off the miss-behaviours while I stared at a brick, not paying the slightest attention.

Yuya's voice blurred into a fuzzy nonsense, as I deliberately didn't look at him. I was too scared to. I didn't want to be reminded of that masked guy, even though I couldn't get him off my mind.

"What're you doing eating in class, Sora!?" My father demanded, having a small rage at the front of the tiny room. For a second, it snapped me out of my thoughts, only to see Sora standing up and stuffing his face with doughnuts.

"Dad!" I shouted, pushing my chair away and standing up myself. "About XYZ! We don't teach XYZ's at this school, do we?"

Everyone in the room stared at me. I knew it sounded dumb. I already knew the answer, myself. But I had to know. What if Yuya had learned XYZ summoning at school, in some secret course? He was my dad's shooting star, his ace student, it wasn't farfetched to think that they did secret classes.

Ok, now thinking about it with a slightly clearer head, that sounds a bit weird. Neither of the two males could keep a secret for ten minutes, especially from me. The daughter to one and best friend to another.

"W-We don't!" My dad waved his hands. "I don't teach what I haven't done… They just recently started teaching it at LDS…"

Now that I thought about it, that was another point. Did Yuya do night classes? No. This was Yuya. His sleep was almost as important to him as his pendulum pendant. Besides, that class was probably the most high-paying and demanding class. Yuya wouldn't be able to keep up with anything.

And, another thing, that guy asked Sawatari what the LDS badge was. If he went there, wouldn't he know?

"Why're you bringing XYZ up, all of a sudden?" my Dad asked, suspiciously.

"No I was just… Wondering…" I said lamely, forgetting that nobody was with me during the duel last night or saw the XYZ dragon. I couldn't help but stare over at Yuya. He stared back, surprised by the scared and confused expression on my face.

For a second, it was just Yuya. Then, my vision pulsed and his face was replaced with the other Yuya. Frowning and serious. I didn't like this. I _really _didn't like this. I started, almost falling back into my chair. I knew I was seeing things but I couldn't help it. Fear was gripping me so tightly, I thought I was suffocating from it.

"What?" Yuya asked, holding my eye contact.

"Nothing," I said, smiling weakly. I felt pathetic. I couldn't _look_ at my best friend, without freaking out. I sat back down and closed my eyes, head facing downwards.

_That's right, there's no way that Yuya would use XYZ anyways. But…_

"Ambushed him!?" a familiar voice bounced down the corridors. "Yuya would never do something so cowardly!"

My head snapped back to the closed door, where I heard the voices. I shoved my thoughts to the side. I had completely forgot about an even bigger problem.

"Gongenzaka?" Yuya asked, standing up and running out. My father followed him, leaving me and the kids in the classroom.

I had completely forgotten about Sawatari Shingo.

* * *

"… There were four, no, _five _witnesses at the scene!" one of the three Leo Duel School boys said. "Sawatari-san, us and… her too!"

_Uh oh_, I thought, as he pointed at me. I had just arrived outside to see the three students. Unfortunately, they had been at the warehouse and they had seen the Yuya-lookalike as clear as I did. But, they weren't doubting who it was.

Yuya and Gongenzaka turned and stared at me, not believing it. I bit my lip and shrunk away, slowly retreating back to the door, where the younger ones were staring at me.

"Isn't that right?" they all jeered. "Hiiragi-Yuzu-chan!" They all pulled the most unattractive and terrifying faces they could. I felt awful. I wasn't siding with those pigs but it was true, I _had _seen Yuya last night.

I took a massive step away. I didn't want to be part of this. Normally, I would be all in their faces and standing up for myself and my best friend. But now, I just wanted to run. Go back to yesterday and tell myself not to go into the warehouse, not to challenge Sawatari and to never see the face of that masked man.

"Is that true Yuzu, you saw it too?" Gongenzaka demanded, turning away from the students of our rival school and coming towards me.

_What do I say? 'Yes, I saw Yuya' and get him arrested for assault? Or 'No, it wasn't Yuya' and get us both arrested for lying?_

"Stop lying!" Futoshi yelled, standing in front of Yuya as the boys layered on the fact that Sawatari's father was running for Mayor.

"Yuya-nii-chan would never do something like that!" Tatsuya cried, also standing in front of the accused.

"The one who attacked first was Sawatari!" Ayu pointed out. "So, to stop him, Yuzu-nee-chan went to go duel him!"

"Wa-wait! So the one who duelled him wasn't Yuya but Yuzu!?" my dad cried, running over to Ayu for the details.

"Yeah!" _Oh, that was a small problem_. _I didn't tell my dad where I was last night._

"And her opponent was?"

"Sawatari!" she said firmly.

"Then that means… The one who ambushed him… was Yuzu!?" my dad wailed.

"That's wrong!" all three yelled at him, momentarily forgetting about Yuya. Was my dad trying to make thing better or even worse?

"We just told you!" the black haired LDS kid said. "It was Sakaki Yuya!"

"I feel so sorry for Sawatari-san," the green haired one sighed. "He was injured so severely, he was hospitalised!"

"Hospitalised?" Yuya squeaked, realising how serious the crime he was accused of was.

"No way!" I gasped.

"His life could even be at risk…" he continued.

"Hey, say something Yuzu!" Yuya pleaded, running up to me. "You saw everything, right?"

"I did see it but…"

"Don't tell me you doubt me too, Yuzu?" Yuya's eyes grew wide. I had never doubted Yuya before, not even when we were really young. I was always on his side. But this time, I couldn't. I just couldn't.

I felt my heart being ripped to shreds. I didn't want to doubt Yuya. But the evidence was overwhelming and I saw his face as clear as day. Then, I saw the purple haired Yuya again and stared at the floor.

I didn't hear what they were saying. Just my own nagging voice.

_Doubter_

_Doubter_

_Doubter_

_Doubter!_

"The COPS!?" someone yelled. My broken heart lurched. Doubting Yuya was one thing but seeing him arrested was a completely different matter. A siren could be heard and we all stood with batted breath, only to hear it fade out. It wasn't for Yuya.

"Let me explain," a silky voice called, sending shivers up my spine. Was it the police? No, it was a woman. A scary woman. A scary woman with a really bad hairdo.

Akaba Himika, the current chairwoman of LDS. Having the cops would probably be better.

* * *

Out of politeness and the slight chill in the air, we invited the woman inside, after she sent her students away with her bodyguard. She sat in one sofa while my dad sat in the other, Yuya and Gongenzaka stood right behind him and I stood further back.

"Well, Yuya, did you really-?" my dad began.

"No, I didn't!" Yuya cried, distressed and really upset. "I would never do something like that!"

"I, the man, Gongenzaka, believe in my friend Yuya!" he announced, standing up for Yuya. That made me feel even worse. Everyone had pledged their trust in Yuya, except me. "It's the same for all of you, isn't it?"

"Of course!" Futoshi cried, backing Yuya up again.

"And you, Yuzu?" he demanded, having seen my reaction to Yuya outside. My insides turned and my heart burned.

It was now or never. I had to ask Yuya and put my mind at rest. I wasn't smart enough to figure out what this all meant and I had to put my trust somewhere. And I wanted to put it with Yuya, even though my heart was black from doubt.

"Yuya!" I turned to him. "That really wasn't you, was it, Yuya?"

"I don't know what you saw, Yuzu, but I didn't attack Sawatari," he said. His eyes shone brightly. There was no scrap of his lying-look about his face.

"I got it, then I'll believe in you too, Yuya," I whispered, the darkness around my heart lifting slightly. Given a few days, it would totally be gone.

"My, my, what strong bonds you all have," the chairwoman said matter-of-factly, with a hint of sarcasm.

She then launched into a speech, not about the injuries afflicted to Sawatari Shingo but to her _number one _school duellist and her school reputation and how it would be 'immensely damaged'.

My dad tried to interrupt. "But our Yuya didn't-"

"That is no longer relevant!" she shrieked, her silky voice gone. This woman was a snake. She never came to come for justice for Sawatari but for her thousand-million-US-dollar school monopoly.

"The only way to clear this disgrace is a duel between duel schools!" she hissed. She was the second person associated with that school that reputation had been 'dragged through the mud' just by the loss of one duel. Was it really that important?

Then, she regained her cool and back down on the sofa.

"If your party wins, we will ignore the case concerning Sawatari," she drawled. So, it obviously wasn't _that_ big a deal. 'Life at risk', my butt.

"But, if we win, we will have you make this Duel School part of the Leo Duel School!" she smirked.

"What did you say?" Yuya exclaimed.

"No way!" my knees shook.

That was not good. We couldn't afford to attend Leo Duel School, so she was effectively kicking us out. That, and it wasn't our school to give. It belonged to Yuya's dad, who had been missing for three years. Wait, did that make it Yuya's? Or my dad's, seeing as he's the only teacher?

"Don't tell me, you set up the whole attack on Sawatari just for this!" my dad questioned.

"That is not the case!" she snapped. "But it is true that I grabbed the chance given to me."

She launched into, yet another, speech about the 'four pillars of duelling'. Fusion, Synchro, XYZ and Pendulum. According to this slime ball, they would hold up her school and make it the mightiest. She wanted to add Pendulum to the curriculum so that everyone could Pendulum summon.

I didn't believe her. There was something about her facial expression that I didn't like. She was asking for a lot. To clean her school's reputation (even though it was Sawatari's fault), to take over our duel school and to mass produce Yuya's cards.

But, at the same time, it looked like she wanted _more_. It made me wonder what her main objective was. It kept on changing. She came to press charges on Sawatari, then dropped it. Then, proposed a school duel. Then, wanted to take over our building. And wanted to put Pendulum onto Leo Duel School's teaching programme.

None of the above was her main, main objective. But then, what was? She was staring at Yuya as if she wanted to _eat _him.

* * *

In no time at all, we were out in the Duel arena of the school. She already had three duellists with her, as if she knew this outcome would happen.

It was three versus three. Yuya, Sora and me, the only three _actual _members of the school against three people I had never seen before. But that was better than facing Sawatari's three lackeys, who had vanished into thin air. Honestly, I was sick to the teeth of Sawatari and his gang.

I didn't even care that these three were aces in their courses.

Yuya was first, after the chairwoman shot Sora down. Sora stood sulking, as the snake announced that their duellist would be Shijima Hokuto, an XYZ user.

_XYZ?_ I craned my neck to get a good look at him. Maybe… Just maybe… No, he had no resemblance to Yuya or the purple haired man last night. Sure, he wore purple and had purple hair but it was darker. No, it was definitely not him.

Disappointment struck me for a second. However, I pushed the feeling away and watched as the Action Duel began.

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**Cat: Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9- Judgment of the Stars!

**Cat: Hey peeps, here's episode 9 in Yuzu's point of view!**

**Rena: Please review**

**Cat: There isn't much from the duel in here because it didn't have much to do about Yuzu.**

**Rena: ****This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

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Chapter 9- Judgment of the Stars! Xyz User "Hokuto Shijhima"

I don't know whether I was still traumatised from my encounter with the _other _Yuya or I was just overreacting. My stomach churned when Yuya's opponent XYZ summoned on his first turn. The monster looked nothing like the XYZ monster I had seen the night before and didn't give off such a foreboding aura but it still made me want to hide in the girls' bathroom. That way, not even Yuya or my dad could reach me.

However, I stayed. I would like to think that I stayed to cheer Yuya on. But really, I stayed to convince my heart that the person I saw last night was not my best friend. I could say a million times, to every person in the world that I trusted Yuya. I kept on saying it to myself. I wanted to and I was trying so hard to but there was a small voice in the back of my head, nagging at me.

Granted, they couldn't expect me to forgive him like _that. _I still needed a few days. Why couldn't this duel be postponed? So I had time to _think_? To talk to Yuya and hear his side of the story? And apologise for what a bad friend I have been the past twelve hours, since this whole palaver began.

I was itching to tell someone. Even my Dad. But, knowing him, he would probably just pass it off as hormones. Ok, I am a teenager but not _everything _I think is down to some chemicals in my pituitary gland, in the middle of my brain! Honestly, it was so irritating.

If I was angry- I was told it was the hormones.

Sad? Hormones.

Depressed? Hormones.

Tearful? Hormones.

Annoyed? Well, probably because the hormones hate the fact it is the hormones fault.

I blamed the hormones when my heart lurched in my chest, as Yuya's opponent demands why Yuya doesn't XYZ summon. Was he told about the XYZ duellist last night? Or was he arrogant enough to think that everyone could afford XYZ monsters?

"I didn't attack Sawatari!" Yuya yelled from across the Action Field. "I have never XYZ summoned in my life!"

_That's right, Yuya is fighting them for us! What good does it do if I don't believe him?_

**_What good does it do? _**The nagging voice drawled. **_It warns you of dangers yet to come. Leave Yuya before this becomes bigger than the both of you!_**

_Shut up, Yuzu! _I tried to mute the sound in my head. I didn't like this person. It was like a dark version of me, sitting in my mind and playing with my weaknesses. The second I became vulnerable, she attacked my conscious. All I needed to do was build higher walls, to keep her at bay.

_I have to believe in-!_

"Yuya!" I cried, as his attacking Odd-Eyes was sent back to his hand. This wouldn't be the biggest problem, if Yuya hadn't been attacking at the time, riding on its back. The dragon vanished, and Yuya was sent flying.

"It looks like he wasn't lying, when he said this field was his specialty," I grumbled, swearing to murder my father for picking such a stupid duel field. You would have thought he would go for one in Yuya's favour but _oh no _he had to use the one that used the most effects, to show off. And that just turned out to be the opponent's specialty field. To the point that he had **_memorised _**where the Action cards fell.

I shouted his name again, as his swordfish was destroyed and he lost life points. I honestly had nothing else to say. He couldn't hear me but for some reason, shouting his name gave me comfort in the smallest way. It also showed that I was still concerned. Gongenzaka gave me a strange look and asked me if I shouted anything else during Yuya's duels. I scowled, not being able to retort a good comeback.

Then, Sora shouted that Yuya was being too serious and that his duel was not very entertaining. Yuya shot back that it wasn't the time to be having fun. Everyone from You Show Duel School froze. What? Yuya wasn't even _trying_?

"To think he's gotten that upset…" I whispered. And here I was thinking I was having a rough time. Yuya had probably woken up this morning thinking it would be a pretty uneventful day. However, he discovered that he was facing charges of assault and people trying to take over his father's duel school. No wonder he wasn't trying to make us laugh. He had to win, he said. Did he remember that it was best of two? If he lost, Sora and I could still take LDS down.

But something told me that his pride was in the way.

Then, the images were back. My friend Yuya and the other Yuya, side by side. Then, slowly, merging into one body with the same face.

Yuya was duelling like that person was last night.

**_See? What did I tell you?_**

_S-Shut up!_

"Yuya…" I sighed. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to focus on the duel. I was snapped out of it when the people around me started shouting.

"That guy! He did it purposely at that timing!" Gongenzaka yelled. What? What did he do? My blue eyes followed the terrified stares of the others, only to see Yuya slide dangerously down the roof and plummet to the floor.

"Yuya!" I screamed, flinging my thoughts of the purple haired guy out of my head. I had more important things to worry about, such as if Yuya will make it through this duel alive.

He managed to save himself by activating a trap and re-summoning swordfish, only to stab it into the temple roof. He dangled over the edge precariously but, at least he wasn't falling. I thought my stomach was going to concave as I sighed in relief, as he flipped himself back onto the ceiling without breaking any limbs.

I tuned in and out of the duel. I should have been paying for attention, I know, but I just couldn't. I couldn't stand seeing more XYZ monsters summoned and Yuya being tormented by this ace of the rival academy.

I swear my heart did stop as the temple began to crumble around him, due to the XYZ monster's attack. It chilled my heart, reminding me of the mess that XYZ monster caused the warehouse the night before. I stifled a genuine scream, as the debris began to fall, threatening to crush him flat. "Yuya!" was, once again, all I could say.

"Get out of there!" Gongenzaka cried. We watched as Yuya took a few steps back. Then paused. Oh god, he wasn't going to-? Yeah, great Yuya, just run back into the falling building! Don't worry us stupid or anything!

Then, emerging from the clouds of smoke, was a familiar figure.

"Don't say it…" Gongenzaka grumbled at me. "Your repetitiveness is giving me a headache!"

"Yuya!" I cheered, as he emerged from the danger zone unharmed, just to annoy the duellist beside me. However, he didn't look bothered for long. He was just as relieved.

We watched in amazement as the XYZ user completely exploded over the fact that Yuya had managed to take 500 lifepoints off him. Yuya only had 400 life points left but, to this guy, this was the final straw. He halved Yuya's points with one trap card, destroying the field with falling comets that were the size of Yuya.

"What do you think a duel is!?" Futoshi shouted down to the opposing school's duelist.

"Yeah!" Ayu backed him up.

"Shut up! A duel is a fight! If it's to win, you can't be too picky about your methods!" he smirked.

"You're wrong!" Yuya snarled. "I don't want anyone to get hurt!"

_I could just make out grey eyes through the lenses on his mask. __**"I don't want you to get hurt anymore…"**__ he said. _

The duellist last night crawled into my mind, repeating the words. The words so similar to the ones Yuya had just uttered.

Again, the two people morphed into one face. _Go away, go away, GO AWAY!_

My rebuilt confidence in Yuya cracked slightly.

Yuya's mood took a turn in the opposite direction. Once again, he was happy and was determined to give the audience a good time. How did he always manage to have these mood swings? Must be hormones.

I'm sure he won in an amazing way. A way that nobody was expecting him too. I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. However, I smiled and chanted with the others, staring down at Yuya.

I looked down at Yuya too, my mind processed him, standing and waving.

_"I don't want anyone to get hurt!"_

But my mind created an image of the purple haired duellist, standing right beside him.

**_"I don't want you to get hurt anymore…"_**

* * *

**Cat: Please review! I'm curious to hear what other people's opinions are of Arc V! Love it? Don't mind it? Hate it? (though if you do, why are you reading this?)**

**Rena: Big thanks to Sanokal and Takawai for reviewing ^^ I do agree, Sanokal that BelievexBelieve would be the worst song for the previous Yu-Gi-Oh!s because they were very serious but that's probably why i don't like it because i'm used to the seriousness...**


	10. Chapter 10- Knights of the Sacred Stones

**Cat: Hey guys! Sorry this is so late, i was in the Netherlands until this afternoon and didn't have the time to watch episode 10, let alone write about it. But, here it is now!**

**Rena: That was a pretty good episode... Another fusion summoner. They love Fusion in this, don't they?**

**Cat: Yeah, and XYZ...**

**Rena: This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

* * *

Chapter 10- Knights of the Sacred Stones!

After Yuya's duel, he slid through the door, only to be crushed by three young children, who were absolutely ecstatic with his win against the top XYZ summoner of LDS. Then, he was crushed by the humongous Gongenzaka, who was trying his very best not to cry.

And I, of course, was seeing faces of a person I didn't want to see. Sure enough, there was that purple haired person replacing Yuya's face, speaking my name familiarly, as if he had known me for life.

"What?" I asked, realising that the actual Yuya had said my name also.

"You're up next!" he smiled, shaking off the younger kids and standing up. "I'm counting on you!"

"Yeah, leave it to me," I whispered, the weight of the importance of this duel finally weighing down on my shoulders, making me feel even worse. "Our You Show Duel School rides on this, after all. I definitely will win it!"

After a few seconds of Yuya assuring me that I was going to be great and stuff (I wasn't really listening, because I kept on having flashes of him with purple hair) we heard footsteps behind us. An extremely pretty girl stood behind us, with tan skin and dark hair.

"I am Koutsu Masumi of the Fusion course," she introduced herself formally. My stomach hit the floor. Fusion? Like Sora? With the freaky monsters? My day was just getting better. My fear was growing. I had to fight her? "So, which of you will be my opponent?"

"I will!" I stepped forward, masking my fear. I had to win. For my school. For Yuya.

**_But you saw him at the warehouse!_**

_I can't worry about that now!_

**_Stop denying it! You have concrete proof! What he said in that duel? That was too similar to what that 'person' said last night._**

_Look, just… Arrggh… No- Look, it wasn't Yuya! It couldn't have been!_

Masumi flicked her hair and gave me a smug smile. Through all my inner arguing, I let myself have a small shred of jealousy towards her looks. Feeling slightly shabby in comparison to this wannabe model, we prepared to duel.

"Yuzu!" My dad cheered, as a sparkling, shiny field appeared. "I picked a field that matched your dazzling cuteness!"

"Dad!" I blushed furiously. Now, I looked shabby and really stupid compared to this fusion-deck duellist, who was smirking.

"To call someone like you dazzling, that's incredible nepotism," my opponent said. My temper flared.

"What was that!?" I demanded. I knew that I was no beauty but I wasn't ugly. I was average. And she knew that he was my dad, I had just said so, so what was with her extremely horrible remark?

"Your eyes have no luster," was all she said, as if that made perfect sense.

"W-Where did that come from?" I asked, wondering what was wrong with my eyes. Not much to report about them. They're blue and they're eyes. I don't need glasses and there is nothing weird about them. Why was she commenting on them, from the opposite side of the room? She was the one with weird eyes! They were red!

Her father was a jewler, according to her majesty, and she was apparently an expert on jewels herself. "I can tell right now that you have no shine in you," she drawled. "It's proof that there is hesitation in your heart!"

_What!? How? How did she notice that!?_

Images floated in my mind. I had to force them out. I had to believe in Yuya. I had to believe. I had to.

"Stop saying whatever you want!" I yelled. I wasn't going to let her in. She was trying to toy with me but I wasn't going to let her. She could easily pick me apart if she knew my worries, or worse, make them take me over even more.

Before I knew it, the duel had begun and, unfortunately, she was going first. I blinked, and she had summoned a fusion monster by something called 'hand-fusion'. I was hoping that she would do something like Sora, such was my lack of knowledge when it comes to the rare summoning, but she had already blown that plan out of the water.

"I can't believe that she fusion summoned in her first turn," I said, awed. I'm sure Sora was giving the others a full-blown explanation of this summon, but I was totally in the dark.

"It seems that even with your eyes that lack radiance, you are able to understand how great hand summoning is!" she taunted. Ok, I really hated this girl and the first turn wasn't over.

However, this monster, no matter how rare it was, had only 1800 attack points, meaning that, unlike Sora's almost invincible fusion monster, it was (slightly) easier to defeat. This had to be a trap. How I 'dealt with it' would 'decide my fate', she said.

I smirked as I drew my card. She may have had a flashy start. But I had something better. In the time it took her to fusion summon, I had advanced summoned one of my favourite cards, Fantasia Prima Prodigy Mozart.

Then, of course, I attacked with my ace card that had superior points to the fusion card, crushing it flat and dealing the pompous girl a bit of damage. I rejoiced for about four seconds, until I saw her smirking. Damn, something was wrong.

But, she didn't use her face-down card. It must have been a bluff. So, I waged a direct attack with my other monster, lowering her life down to 1800.

"It seems you have some skill. But don't think you've won just yet," the arrogant student flicked her hair.

"Sore loser!" I couldn't help shouting.

"We'll see who's a sore loser after my next turn," Masumi gloated. I smiled to myself. She had no monsters and only one trap card. She had to be bluffing.

_Or maybe not! _I screamed inwardly, as I faced her ace monster, that she had once again summoned in one turn. This time banishing fusion material from the graveyard.

"Yuzu! Don't let your guard down-" Yuya began to yell, only for him to fade out completely.

"-She's planning something," the masked duellist shone from one of the pillars. Oh god, what do I do? I was seeing him everywhere! I tried to hold down my panic but the fusion monster and the purple-haired person vision at the same time made me want to scream.

"You're pretty care-free if you think you can look away," the LDS student smirked.

_Sod this, I don't care._ Purple Yuya was gone, the pillar the usual white. _No, wait! I do care! Back to the duel! The duel, Yuzu! The school! We have to save the school!_

The monster attacked, and I lost 300 points. Right, I was monster-less but still winning. Then, she revealed that she had activated her fusion's affect. By banishing her first fusion monster from her graveyard, her monster gained all of its abilities.

_Well, that's just great._

Effect number 1) A monster destroyed in battle by the monster deals its original attack to the owner.

I was sent flying, crashing to the ground. My life points dropping to 1100. Now, I was the one losing. I could hear my dad's wails from the control room and his yells of rubbish support.

Effect number 2) It can attack twice in one battle phase.

My world was blurring. _No, I can't lose!_ The colours were blurring together and my head was throbbing. Then, out of the corner of my eye was the last thing I was expecting to see. An Action card.

Her words were muffled and my movements slow. I had to get that card. Before that monster reached me. I forced myself up and staggered towards it, making a leap of faith and reaching out.

Then, reality jarred my hand badly. It wasn't an action card. It was a reflection. The card was lying by another pillar, being reflected perfectly into the golden rim of the other. I had no time to reach it.

"To be deceived by the reflection of jewels," she mused. "Your eyes must be quite clouded."

I don't even have to mention who I saw in my mind.

I didn't even notice the yellow light rushing towards me. I was launched off my feet, screaming. From anger or losing or the stress of everything, I don't know. My life hit zero.

It was over.

* * *

"Yuzu? Yuzu!" It was him. The purple haired- Oh no, wait. It was Yuya. He was crouching over me, asking if I was hurt. He helped me to my feet but the blood rushed to my head, I lurched forward but just had enough time to direct myself into the only support offered to me. Yuya.

"Hey, are you sure you're ok?" he asked, concerned, as the nausea passed, and I gripped onto his shirt and refused to let go. This was Yuya. Yuya. He was a real person. And he was right here.

I hated to admit it but Koutsu Masumi was right. I was being deceived by my own imagination. How stupid could I be?

"Quite a show you two are giving us there," the victor smirked.

_What? What show?_

_Oh, that I was hugging Yuya? Meh, big deal._

_…_

_Wait, what?_

_What was I doing!?_

I squeaked and jumped back, my face almost as pink as my hair. I acted on instinct and shoved him in the chest, a bit harder than I would have liked, and he ended bashing his head on the wall.

"Ow, where did that come from!?" he complained, standing up.

"G-Gomen Nasai!" I bowed apologetically.

Then, the fact I lost hit me like a tsunami hitting shore. It crashed down on me and washed all of my other thoughts away. My eyes whelmed with tears.

"Don't worry about it!" Yuya patted me on the shoulder. "We just have to win the next one!"

I smiled slightly. Trust Yuya to still look on the bright side.

* * *

We only had the synchro user left. And we had to defeat him. I may have been feeling miserable that I couldn't wrap up this small tournament but I still felt like kicking the crap out of Sora because he didn't want to duel anymore. He had _volunteered._ Now he was backing out? That was not fair.

So, now Gongenzaka was duelling in his place. Don't get me wrong, he's a good duelist and a good friend but he wasn't part of the school. That and it looked like this synchro user was the toughest of the lot.

Of all the rare forms of summoning, Synchro was one I knew the least. I had never actually seen it summoned in real life, only on professional tournaments on TV. Sure, we had all heard of Yusei Fudo, the famous synchro user but his duelling rein ended _years _back. And no one had really had really heard again about him since.

Then, the stakes were raised even higher for Gongenzaka with the reminder from the chairwoman of LDS that, if Gongenzaka lost, the school and Yuya's summoning would belong to her expensive curriculum. Then, my dad raised our deal higher by making her agree that they would never meddle with Yuya again, if they lost.

Now, Gongenzaka _couldn't _lose.

* * *

**Cat: Whoooo Hooooo! Synchro in the next episode! Synchro is my life!**

**Rena: But seriously, that synchro user looks like he lives in a trash can, why couldn't he have more class? He is using the best form of summoning!**

**Cat: You may have guessed that the first Yu-Gi-Oh! i watched was 5ds and it is my LIFE**

**Rena: PLEASE REVIEW and, also out of sheer curiosity, what was the first Yu-Gi-Oh! you watched? And what is your favourite form of summoning? I'd love to know (cause i'm nosy!) :3**


	11. Chapter 11- One with His Sword

**Cat: Hey guys! Here's chapter 11!**

**Rena: Sorry about the last chapter sucking so bad! I tried to make this one better but... Well, it's personal preference. **

**Cat: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! And, if you don't mind, can you review again, please? :3**

**Rena: ****This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

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Chapter 11- One with His Sword

"What a guy," Yuya stared through the glass. "In just one turn, he synchro summoned twice!"

After my humiliating defeat, I stood in the girl's bathroom for a couple of minutes, staring at myself and slamming my fists on the unit. After my moment of self-disgust passed, I downed a bottle of Sprite and joined the rest of the gang, who were hanging around the viewing window of the duel arena. For a second, I stared at Yuya's face, only to see Yuya. No purple hair or anything.

I heaved a sigh of relief. The haunting feeling was by no means gone but it was no longer clouding my vision. I genuinely hate being influenced by others but Masumi was right. I was making way to big a deal out of this. If this small tournament wasn't under such tight conditions, I would challenge her for a rematch. Maybe I would one day, who knows?

I slid in between Yuya and the kids, to stand in between them. They all smiled as I arrived, trying to cheer me up. I may have lost and I wasn't ecstatic but after a bit of alone time after the duel, I felt fine. I wasn't despairing or anything and I knew staying angry at myself was going to achieve nothing. I had faith in Gongenzaka, just like Yuya and the others.

Even though he was up against a ridiculous summoning strategy deck, I knew he wasn't going to go down easy. His deck was just like his personality; strong and stubborn. _Extremely_ stubborn.

Yuya and I exchanged a knowing look as Gongenzaka advanced summoned Super-heavy Samurai Big Benkei. It was an awesome monster, with a ridiculous amount of defence points, higher than the LDS student's synchro's attack points. It was a very familiar sight. The only difference was that Yuya wasn't getting pounded by it.

Yuya pulled a face at the giant samurai. It was one of the banes of his duelling career, with its crazy effect. Even in defence mode, it can attack. Oh, and its defence points are also its attack points: 3500. Ayu and Futoshi cheered as a synchro monster took a tumble.

Then, after Gongenzaka ended his turn, Yaiba Todo summoned four monsters in one turn. _Four!_ Did anyone ever tell him that three's a crowd? Four is a party? And to make matters worse, the forth special summoned monster was a tuner. Again.

Even thought that was bad news, the faces of the children was classic, I had to hide my giggles. Then, as I did that, I bit my tongue as another level nine Synchro monster appeared. Oh, and it was Gottoms again; the synchro that Gongenzaka had just destroyed.

"No way… The Gottoms he just defeated?" I asked, thrown into confusion. Did he have two of the same card? He could have made that a bit clearer.

"But Gottoms attack is 3100," Yuya tried to reassure us, still watching the duel. "He's no threat to Big Benkei." Trust Yuya to not care how a second one appeared, just that it had less attack points that Gongenzaka's defence.

"Hey, the synchro user's running!" Ayu pointed at the squirt running across the sword graveyard, brandishing his wooden weapon. I tugged on Yuya's shirt sleeve slightly. He glanced back at me and nodded, knowing what I was thinking.

"I activate Action Magic: Extreme Sword!" he announced, sticking the card in the disk. That didn't sound good. Yuya slammed his hand on the glass and stared fearfully. Yep, definitely not good. "It increases the attack points of one monster by 1000 during battle!"

A gigantic explosion shook the building as the attack hit. You could see nothing through the grey smoke.

"Big Benkei was…" I began, only to be interrupted by Yuya reminding me that our friend wouldn't take damage because his monster was in defence mode. Really, I may have lost my duel but did he seriously think I was born yesterday?

Then, the LDS student played a trap, dealing piercing damage of 600 points. So much for me being mad at Yuya. Turns out we were both born yesterday. Then, every member of You Show Duel School began to feel uneasy. Gongenzaka had fallen past the safety line of 1000 life points, putting him in red. Just one attack and it was over. Not just for him but for our school. And Yuya.

"Hey!" I pointed into the arena, grabbing everyone's attention. They all peered through, squinting at what I was pointing at. The mist from the explosion cleared, revealing… Big Benkei!?

"When Big Benkei was attacked, I sent Super-heavy Samurai Armaments Fire Armour to the graveyard," Gongenzaka explained. "By sending this card to the graveyard for the rest of this turn, it negates the destruction of one level five or greater Super-heavy Samurai!"

We all stared in awe. Where the heck did that come from? A new combo? That was pretty awesome, I had to admit. Gongenzaka was playing even better than I thought he would! However, Ayu was not convinced. "His defence went down by 800 points…" she whispered.

I listened into the reassurance that Tatsuya offered the young girl. We had to stay positive. And, hey, Gongenzaka wasn't down!

"An action card!" the girl yelled suddenly. I snapped my head back to face the duel. Damn, you can miss so much in a few seconds. The LDS student had caused an airwave to pick up an action card and send it floating towards Gongenzaka. Why would he give him an action card? For a second, the image of Yuya duelling Sawatari sprung into my mind, every action card he picked up was a trap.

"I will not move," Gongenzaka announced. The younger boys standing beside me yelled, as the opponent grabbed the card for himself. Oh great, another Extreme Sword. Gongenzaka was sent flying, hitting the ground but negating the destruction of his monster. His life points were at 100.

"Gongenzaka-kun!" I whispered, as we all watched in horror. I could just see us handing the school over now. The optimism that was with us earlier had mutated into anxiety, that hung in the room like one million flies.

The number of imaginary flies of despair doubled, as the synchro user managed to send both of Gongenzaka's cards in his hand to the graveyard, leaving him with little to no options.

"What should he do? If this keeps up, Gongenzaka-kun will definitely loose!" Ayu wailed.

"If only he had taken that action card!" Tatsuya sighed.

"Yeah! Why didn't he go for it?!" Futoshi yelled, bundling his pudgy hands into fists.

"No, this is fine," Yuya spoke, finally. I looked up at him (wait, please don't tell me he was _taller!_) and waited for an explanation. "This is how he duels," was all Yuya explained. Thanks for clearing that up.

He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. Was he imagining the duel's outcome? Thinking about what Gongenzaka had up his sleeve? Remembering something? He and Gongenzaka went way back, almost as far back as I went with Yuya.

Then, in Gongenzaka's next turn, he summoned a monster that could be equipped to any Super-heavy Samurai, and raise its defence by 1200. After battling, he managed to deal damage, taking the LDS student's life down to 3000. There was still a massive gap between them but it was something.

"He did it!" the three children cheered.

"That's it, Gongenzaka!" Yuya shouted through the glass.

Then, the small duellist played a trap and once again managed to summon several monsters at once, even though it wasn't his turn.

"Monsters that you can summon whether it's your turn or not," Yuya's former opponent muttered from the other side of the small room. "The ability to turn the tides so explosively is what makes X-Saber decks so frightening!"

"It's rare for you to compliment someone else's deck," the girl who defeated me smirked at her fellow student. "Did losing make you weak?"

_Ouch, that was harsh._

Sora watched the conversation of the LDS students with little interest, licking the lollipop he was holding. "With his life at 100 and with no cards in his hand, Gon-chan doesn't have a chance to win this, does he?"

"No, it's not over yet," Yuya said, still staring into the Action Duel. "He hasn't given up yet."

_And so we can't give up on him_, I thought, as we turned back to the duel, leaving the defeated LDS student to sob in the corner.

However, the synchro user, once again summoned back his tuner monster and synchro summoned a third Gottoms. I was really sick of that monster.

I genuinely thought it was over, as the opponent's first monster flew in to attack. However, Gongenzaka managed to avoid it by the skin of his teeth, as they say, by sending his equip monster to the graveyard and stopping the monster from attacking. However, to do so, he had to drop Big Benkei's defence points to 0.

I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my head into Yuya's shoulder. I didn't want to see Gongenzaka lose and I didn't want to see our hopes of keeping the school die. Yuya put his arm around me in comfort. "Remember, this is how he duels," he muttered.

"Battle! I attack Big Benkei with the first of my Gottoms!"

"That was what I've been waiting for!" the student fighting for our school announced. I looked up from the folds of Yuya's jacket to stare. Was he going to turn this around? Or was he bluffing?

He had activated a card effect from his graveyard and, ironically, it was one of the ones that the LDS student had sent there purposely earlier in the game, using Gottoms effect.

"When there are no magic or trap cards in my graveyard, I can banish this card to deal the difference from the current defence and the original defence of an attacked monster to my opponent!" he announced.

"Big Benkei's original defence is 3500," Tatsuya whispered.

"And now, it's zero!" Futoshi finished the other boy's sentence.

"So, that means, with 3500 points of damage…" Ayu trailed off.

"That means Gongenza-kun will definitely win!" they all cheered.

I couldn't help feel a small smirk tug at my face as Sora's lollipop hit the ground and shattered into one million pieces. That kid seriously needed to learn that he wasn't right all the time. "No way…" he said, completely awed. Now, he might think twice before calling the duellist 'Gon-chan'.

I grinned at my best friend, who was wearing a similar expression to the one that everyone was wearing. We had this duel in the bag. Our school was safe. "The conditions to pull off this comeback is to have no spells or traps in his graveyard. That's why Gongenzaka-kun didn't put in any magic or trap cards and made his deck with only monsters!"

"A deck constructed with only monsters?" Her Majesty listened into our conversation, pressing her face up against the glass, to get a closer look.

"That's beyond crazy!" Yuya's opponent stared.

I was already for my victory scream, as the red orbs rocketed towards the final LDS student. They were getting closer and closer and-

"I activate from my hand the quick-play magic: Saber Reflector!" he announced.

"No!" I slammed my hands down on the sill of the window. He was so close! The magic deflected the attack and caused no damage!

"That guy, he still had that option!?" Yuya cried, placing his hands on the glass, hardly believing it.

"…And the negated damage is reflected back to my opponent!" the synchro user revealed. "This is the end!"

"Yuzu-nee-chan, I can't watch!" Ayu sobbed, running over and digging her face into my skirt. I gripped her tightly, expecting the worse.

"I activate the effect of my Super-heavy Samurai Armament Big Bang from my graveyard!" No way, a turn around again? Man, that effect of Gottoms was really coming back to bite him. Because there was no magic or trap cards in his graveyard, Gongenzaka could negate the damage from the effect. I exhaled, realising that I hadn't been breathing for almost the entire turn.

"That's not all!" Yuya's friend shouted from across the room, as wind tried to sweep everything away. "Furthermore, it destroys all monsters on the field and deals the total level of all destroyed monsters times 100 to both players!"

"What!?" we all yelled, as lightning exploded around the room.

"But the total levels are… 33!" the LDS screamed in panic.

"That's 3300 points of damage!" Gongenzaka announced.

Then, the monster exploded in a massive orange light, filling the room. For seconds, you couldn't see anyone inside except the faded outline of the huge monsters, vanishing into thin air and the outline of Gongenzaka and Yaiba Todo for a couple of seconds, before they were sent flying in different directions.

_Whhheeeeep! _Both player's lifepoints hit zero.

**Draw!** The Action field announced, then vanished.

It was over.

Both schools claimed one win, one loss and a tie.

"Gongenzaka! Are you ok?" Yuya yelled, running over and helping the much larger person up into a sitting position and then, eventually to limp to the door.

"Chairwoman Akaba, you said you would take this duel school if you won the best of three," my father's voice announced over the overhead speakers. "But that result was a draw, so I kindly ask you to leave."

_Yeah, you go dad! Get that creep outta here! _I applauded my Dad's rare maturity and sensibility, in my head of course.

"What do you think you're saying?" the woman demanded, glaring up at my father. "This was a duel to settle everything! There can be no draws!"

I put my hands on my hips and stared daggers her. Chairwoman or not, this wasn't her school, so we could kick her out whenever we pleased. And she had overstayed her welcome by three duels.

"A tie-breaker!" she announced. "We will duel with our two students that have one victory. That's fine with you, isn't it?"

My dad began to protest but Yuya decided for him, stepping forward, his goggles placed securely over his eyes.

"Yuya," I sighed.

"It seems that you're up for it," Lady Creep-Fest smiled, glancing over at the victory of the LDS students, the fusion summoner who defeated me, Koutsu Masumi. Actually, now I want this duel to go ahead. It may seem nasty, but I want Yuya to kick her butt and get revenge for me-

"Wait!" an unfamiliar voice called. A man I had never seen before in my life appeared from behind the wall. Had he been there the whole time? "I will put an end to this."

_Uh oh. Trouble._

* * *

**Cat: Oh! It is coming! The duel with Reiji! Fun times!**

**Rena: Please review! And, todays' question! Out of all five Yu-Gi-Oh!s who is your all time favourite character? I won't judge at all! I'm just curious, as you know! Only one person! Can you narrow it down that much?**


	12. Chapter 12- DDD

**Cat: Hey guys! Here is episode 12 in the mind of Yuzu!**

**Rena: Sorry it's out so late but that wasn't our fault. The English subbed version only came out a few hours ago.**

**Cat: Yeah. And now it's ****_midnight_****. You should all be grateful and review! I'm off to sleep!**

**Rena: This story is in Yuzu's POV. Please give me some artistic licence. If i put some stuff that isn't in the anime in here, don't flame. There would be no point in reading, if it was just the anime in words.**

* * *

Chapter 12- DDD The King from Another Dimension

"He put his goggles on…" Ayu whispered from behind me.

"I wonder what's wrong with him," Futoshi said.

"Yuya-nii-chan," Tetsuya muttered.

Suddenly, I really didn't want this match to go ahead. Every cell in my body was screaming that this was a bad idea. And why did LDS have a forth duellist? That wasn't fair! That and he obviously wasn't in school! Even if he was, he would be in college at least! What was he doing wanting to challenge a fourteen year old?

"Yuya…" I sighed, for the one millionth time that day. One day, he was going to pay dearly for the worry and stress he had put me through since the night before. Not that I was still thinking about it, or anything. OK, I admit it, I was. It was still playing on my mind but not so much that I saw different people. Yuya was Yuya and I had finally managed to convince my brain that, even though it has had around fourteen years of knowing Yuya anyway.

Gongenzaka and the kids were in full swing, exclaiming how determined Yuya looked, only to be interrupted by the devil in a skirt. "You all don't seem to know how strong Reiji-san is…"

_Reiji-san?_

_Reiji-san…_

_Reiji-san!_

_… As in… The __**pro**__!?_

_No, I have to be mistaken! That can't be him!_

"That's enough cheering for now, isn't it?" said-man said monotonously, glaring at us through the red-rimmed glasses that were so out of fashion it hurt. "From here on I'd prefer if you'd stay quiet and just watch."

Well, this guy had obviously never duelled at school. How can you stay quite during a duel? It's impossible! Especially for a group of kids, cheering their friends on. Sheesh.

As they walked through the doors, to take their positions on the field, I glanced up at my dad. He was researching something on his iDisk. We made eye contact for only a second and my fears were confirmed.

'Reiji-san' was _bad_ news.

"This is kinda scary," a familiar small body pressed itself against my own, clasping my arms in comfort. I bent down and hugged her but didn't keep my eyes off my best friend. "What's happened to Yuya?" was all I could ask.

He only ever wore those goggles if he was about to cry. Was he? But he didn't look very teary-eyed and he didn't have any real reason to. He also wasn't the type to chicken out before duels. So why was he wearing those god-forsaken goggles!?

"He's concentrating on his match," Gongenzaka replied.

"But, that's not Yuya at all…" I murmured, once again feeling dread build up in my stomach. He was wearing a face like… NO! He was just determined! Yes, Yuzu! Determined!

**_No he's not…_** The voice was back. My imagination was taking hold. The air around Yuya was turning purple, dying his hair that was growing longer, his goggles turning into a face mask, his jacket becoming a cloak.

_No! Not again! _

"Yuya!" I shouted over the speakers. Everyone in the room, spectators and duellists alike. "**Laugh!"**

_Please_, luckily I managed to bite down the last part of my plea and keep it to myself. I didn't want everyone to think I was begging him which, in my head, I was.

Letting go of the red-headed girl, I stood up and faced him, as the ominous presence left him again in my mind. "You Show Duel School is about bright, fun and entertaining duels, right?"

"Don't forget to smile!" I said, trying my best to do the same and convince him.

"Smile…" he muttered, as if it was a completely foreign concept to him. He stared at his shoes and thought for a second. "That's right."

For a second, my heart sank. I thought he was going to brush off my words and say that now wasn't the time for fun and become the exact double of the dark duellist. "Bright and fun entertainment is my motto!" he cheered, placing his goggles back on his head.

I sighed loudly, relieved to the point of collapsing. Yuya was going to be Yuya.

"I can't forget that, no matter what!" Everyone on the side of You Show Duel School lit up, grins spreading across our worried faces. "Alright, I'll show it to you!"

"The best smile and…" he lifted his arms in the air, in a very Yuya-esk manner. "The best duel!"

And, despite that Reiji's person's demands, we all began cheering.

"Action field on!" my dad shouted over the speakers. Oh god, what was he going to choose? "Field magic; Athletic Circus, Activate!"

So my father did have a brain, apparently. This was Yuya's best field. If memory serves me well, it was the first field magic that Yuya every experienced in an Action Duel when we were so young, our mothers were watching anxiously from the windows. Oh, the things you remember.

"Duellists locked in battle!" I began.

"Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" Tatsuya continued.

"They storm through this field!" Futoshi pumped the air with his chubby fist.

"Behold!" Ayu jumped in the air. "This is the newest and greatest evolution of duelling!"

"Action!" we all shouted in unison.

"DUEL!" Reiji and Yuya exclaimed.

* * *

The duel had hardly began and I knew something was up. Yuya's opponent activated three permanent spells from his hand. One of them dealt 1000 points of damage to himself, during his standby phase. Was he suicidal? Or was he not bothered? Or was he secretly on our side? Or did I mishear him?

"When your turn comes again…" I said, hoping that someone could confirm what I thought I just heard.

"You take 1000 points of damage!?" Gongenzaka concluded. Great, so I wasn't going crazy. But why would he want to do that?

"Additionally," Reiji explained. "Once per turn, I can add one level 4 or lower 'DD' monster from my deck to my hand."

_DD? _I had never heard of that type of deck before. Did it stand for something? Like 'BF' for 'Black Feather'? I mused over the stupid question as he drew a card from his deck. "I summon DD Cerberus from my hand."

"DD?" Futoshi queried the others before I could.

"Different Dimension," Sora said, momentarily pausing from munching his chocolate bar.

Then, he revealed that his second continuous spell was… Exactly the same card! That meant…

"2000 points of damage," I said awed, now convinced that the pro was up to something, as he added another card from his deck to his hand. Yuya looked slightly spooked and I didn't blame him, I was just as worried.

"And the third Magic Card I will activate is…" I rocked forward, onto the balls of my feet. Was he going to summon yet another-? Oh no, this one was different. "Continuous magic: Covenant with the Swamp King!"

"This card also inflicts 1000 points of damage to me during my standby phase…"

_What is he thinking? What is he planning?_

"Now it's up to 3000 points of damage," Yuya hissed, unsure of what to do in his situation.

Reiji ignored Yuya's comment and continued in the explaining of the spell card. "Covenant with the Swamp King allows me to fuse a fusion monster…"

_Red alert! Red alert!_

"…Without using a fusion magic card."

"Come on! That can't be legal!" I cried, as Sora gasped in shock. I glanced over at the blue-haired, sweet-loving fusion summoner but he made no attempt to agree with me.

"A fusion summon without using fusion magic cards!?" Yuya yelped.

"Be born! DDD Temujin, the Raging Inferno King!" Reiji announced.

This duel was insane. It was the first turn and he had already fusion summoned. Damn these LDS students and their special summoning's on the first turn! Why was I still surprised? But this wasn't like Masumi, with her pretty bejewelled monsters. This was a bit more in Sora's Des-Toy Bears direction, this monster.

I squirmed slightly. The past few weeks made me hate the concept of fusion more and more.

"He's a fusion user!" Gongenzaka shouted accusingly, as if Reiji had committed a heinous crime.

"But… To take such a huge risk to summon only that monster?" I asked. It looked strong but with only 2000 attack points, it was nothing special.

"This time it's DD_D_," Ayu said.

"There are three D's…" Tatsuya explained what Ayu was trying to say to us.

"What does it mean now?" Futoshi turned to Sora, who normally had all the explanations for us. The sky-haired boy scowled, his usual happy-go-lucky-self vanishing in his new seriousness.

"Isn't this… Completely different?" he asked. "Could this be real? But…"

That sent a chill down my spine. Granted, Sora didn't know everything about monster types under the sun but it sounded like a 'DDD' monster didn't even exist.

To end his turn, the LDS representative placed two cards face down. "Now his hand is at zero…" I whispered.

What was he doing? He had one fusion monster out, no cards in his hand and was facing a 3000 point penalty in his next turn. I wasn't smelling a rat, I was smelling a whole family of rodents. However, this creep was not fazed. He was planning something and it was as obvious as Yuya sleeping during Maths.

"What's with his attitude?! He's so full of himself!" Ayu complained.

Sora didn't bother tearing his eyes away from Yuya as he explained to use that Reiji could be taking the 3000 points of damage because he was _underestimating _our best duellist.

"No way!" I shouted, deciding that I was going to bat that grey-haired man over the head with my fan after Yuya kicked his butt.

Finally, after what felt like decades, it was Yuya's turn. And he was already turning the tables. By summoning and using the effect of Entermate Whip Viper, he swapped the attack points of the fusion monster with its defence points, lowering it to 1500.

"Temujin's attack went down!" Ayu smiled.

"Whip Viper's attack is 1700!" Tatsuya cheered. "Now he can beat it!"

I genuinely thought that Yuya had brought the freaky fusion down in his first turn but then of course, Reiji activated a trap, 'Covenant with Valkyries'.

"Another covenant?" Gongenkaza asked. He had a point. Every spell or trap that Reiji had played throughout this duel had begun with the word 'covenant' and every card he had played so far…

"Then… That means…" I paused. _He's going to take another 1000 points of damage!_

"I will take 1000 points of damage during my standby phase and all fiend-type monsters I control gain 1000 attack points." Reiji sniffed.

That meant that Reiji was going to lose and it would be nobody's fault but his own. This was starting to bug me. He was going to take all of this self-inflicted damage but he wasn't doing anything about it! No card nullifying the damage or something to destroy the cards. Nothing.

The fusion monster glowed, receiving his extra points and Whip Viper looked a bit panicked. Yuya leapt around like a monkey, grabbing an action card. Reiji made no move to stop him but that didn't surprise me. He didn't seem like that sort of guy.

But boy did Yuya get lucky with that action card! It raised Whip Viper's attack by 1000 also and, unlike this 'pro', Yuya didn't have to spend one point. The purple snake's points hit 2700.

Reiji moved like lightning. Was he going for an action card? Well, I didn't pay much attention as Yuya's monster swept in and collided with the fusion monster, causing a cloud of debris, hiding them from view.

"He did it!" the members of You Show shouted, as the members of LDS looked like they had seen something along the lines of an alien.

"Huh? What happened?" someone shouted. I blinked. Great, did the computer pack in? Why was the fusion monster still there?! Then, I remembered Reiji's movements. Oh yeah. As it turns out, it was one of the oldest action cards in the book. Action Magic; Evade.

"If Yuya ends his turn right now, his opponent's life will become zero!" I exclaimed, realising that whether Yuya had destroyed the fusion was of very little consequence in the scheme of things.

"Doesn't that mean that Yuya-nii-chan has won?" Ayu asked, her golden eyes full of wonder.

I was about to open my mouth and say 'yes' when Sora said something. Not catching what he first said, all I heard was. "He doesn't seem like the type to make mistakes."

I turned and examined him. Judging by his smirk, he had made no mistakes at all.

"What's so funny!?" Yuya demanded.

"You seem like a very kind person," Reiji said simply. "But that kindness is useless on the stage of battle!"

"Despite being given the option to win by just ending your turn, you still hesitate. Most likely, that kindness of yours is to blame."

What? Reiji was complaining about how kind Yuya was? Like how he gave him the first turn and thanked him for letting him choose the action field? What was wrong with being kind? There are defiantly worse traits to have. Like being a stuck-up know-it-all, like a certain grey-haired duellist.

"I set one card…" Yuya muttered, after hesitating slightly. "And end my turn!"

After several monster's lost or gained attack points because of certain effects wearing off, four cards appeared before Reiji.

"I'll have you take that 4000 points of damage from your four covenants!" Yuya announced.

"Covenants? Those measly things…" Reiji smirked, as they simply exploded into yellow sparkles. My mouth fell open. That was his plan? How was that a plan? How was that possible!?

"The covenants were nullified! I had already activated the trap card: Lease Laundering!" Reiji grinned. "Lease Laundering Is activated by negating the effects of all 'covenant' cards and destroys all affected 'covenant' cards during the end phase."

"Then that means he negated all 4000 points of damage?" Gongenzaka roared.

"It was all too good to be true," Yuya sighed. "But if I had win from that, I wouldn't have been happy. It would mean the duel would end before I could show off my entertainment duelling that everyone was anticipating!"

_And here I was thinking that he was going to say something along the lines of 'he wouldn't have won on his own terms' or 'he had no part in the battle to win'._

Sometimes, I really was stupid.

"To you, this might seem like a naive way of thinking but you know… I want to win with my own duelling that was passed down from my father!" Yuya grinned.

"With Sakaki Yushou's duelling?" Reiji asked.

"You… You know my father?" Yuya demanded. I blinked. No way! No one has seen Yuya's dad for years! How would Reiji know him?

"Of course we know him!" a voice shouted from beside us, from the LDS pupils. It was the synchro user. "Your dad is famous after all!"

_Don't say it!_

"As the former champion who ran away!"

I turned violently to give the brat a piece of my mind when I was stopped by a noise that made me jump. "SILENCE!" Reiji roared… At the members of LDS. They all shrank back as if they had been bitten.

"Pardon me," Reiji apologised. "Of course I am aware of your father, as the pioneer who led the way in creating our current action duel. I respect him from the bottom of my heart.

Well, that was new. Normally, when people heard about Yuya's father, he was always reminded of how he 'ran away'. To be respected from the bottom of one's heart, from someone from LDS made me wonder if I was dreaming.

Now, it was Reiji's turn. And he summoned a tuner monster. Uh oh.

"Synchro Summon! Be born! Level 7, DDD Alexander, the King of Gales!"

"He wasn't just a fusion user!?" Gongenzaka said.

Within seconds, not even that, through the effects of his two DDD monsters, he managed to revive two monsters from the graveyard and _overlay_ them.

"Oh no," I held my hands over my mouth.

Yuya was facing a fusion, a synchro and an XYZ monster with only one normal monster in attack mode.

Even the LDS students looked awed as the XYZ monster also took to the field.

Yuya was facing a fusion, a synchro and an XYZ monster with only one normal monster in attack mode.

"The title 'DDD' stands for 'Different Dimension Demon'." Reiji pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Prepare to get a good taste of the power of kings…"

Yuya was facing a fusion, a synchro and an XYZ monster with only one normal monster in attack mode.

And all I could do was watch.

* * *

**Cat: Please review!**

**Rena: And thank you to all those who have reviewed, especially with your answers to my questions! They have been so interesting! Like seriously, every review is different with people's own reasons into why they like a series or summoning and character and i'm like 'wow, never thought of it like that!'.**

**Cat: And today's question! What, in your opinion, is the best Yugioh opening theme out of all series!? Hard one right? Have fun! (I'll be nice and say that you can have tied three if you can't narrow it down!)**


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